Holiday Traditions & DIY Ornaments

I am really pleased to share with you a post today written by my sister, Allison.  We grew up with parents who were really into Christmas and family traditions and it left us with a lot of fun memories (matching Christmas pajamas, tons of presents, and a full catalog of ornaments from family members).

Allison has incorporated a lot of those traditions with her children, and as they grow up, is working on how to keep the traditions but evolve them with her children’s maturity.  She is going to share her thoughts, as well as some ideas on ‘do it yourself’ ornaments for this year’s Christmas tree!  So, here you go….

As Christmas quickly rolls around, I am reminded of how fast this year has gone.  It has been a great year and as we began to decorate our house, I realize, that as in life – our Christmas decorations have moved into the next phase in their life as well.

Allison’s girls visiting Santa when they were young, and not too sure about the whole thing!

I believe my mother began purchasing Christmas ornaments for each of her children on the day of our births.  The day I moved out of my parents home, I was given my ornaments – along with notes cataloging each ornament, the year it was purchased and from whom.  A tradition that thankfully, has since been passed to my daughters.  I am fairly certain at their ages (13 & 15) they can already each decorate their own 9 foot trees.

This is one of my favorite ornaments, from 1972 based on the nursery rhyme The Little Old Lady in the Shoe.

As quickly as our days of matching Christmas pajamas are gone.  So are the days that our tree was covered in kindergarten handmade ornaments,  that cover only the lowest braches of the tree,  just as high as their little arms could reach.  We now leave the Disney character ornaments, the ones that were so diligently collected after watching each beloved Disney movie release, in their original Disney “storybooks”.

Now our tree is covered in years of collected ornaments and decorative balls – not that I don’t sneak a kindergarten ornament or two on the tree for old times sake!  Our home is just decorated with a little more “mature” feel these days.

We love these holiday wall tiles from Heather Scott Home & Design.

We are going to add one more twist to the traditions this year.  We are headed to Montana to celebrate Christmas with family.  There will be no ornaments for this tree – so this year we will be making them.  I have never seen my girls have so much fun looking for ideas on great DIY Christmas ornaments.  Just one more sign of changing times…

Here are some of the great ideas the girls came up with for our tree. Check them out for yourself.

http://www.marthastewart.com/268828/button-wreath-ornament

http://www.yourhomebasedmom.com/pottery-barn-knock-off-glitter-letter-ornament/

Each ‘family’ has to come up with their own DIY ornament idea and provide a list of the required craft items.  We will be spending a day with everyone making one of each other’s ornament ideas.

We are all excited about taking some down time to spend together and, yes, even the guys are participating.

If you are looking for some ideas to ‘disconnect’ from the iphones, ipads, and TVs and actually spend quality time together, why not think about a craft project?  Thanks to Pinterest, Martha Stewart and blogs, there are an unlimited amount of ideas out there!  Get your families involved, spend time together and remember that Christmas is not about being stressed out, it is about a birthday, being grateful and loving others.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours and best wishes for the New Year!