Each year, since my daughter’s first Christmas, I have gotten an ornament for the tree to represent something special for each of the kids. As babies a “baby’s first Christmas” ornament worked out… But as they have gotten older, it has been fun looking for just the right ornament.
Last year it was Lightning McQueen for my car-obsessed son and a Tinkerbell ornament for my daughter to remind her of her first trip to DIsney World. The year before that it was a Tonka dump truck (the back even tips!) and a beautiful princess dress on a hanger for my little girl who loves dressing up.
I knew just what I wanted to find this year: Spiderman (Monkey is just starting to get into superheroes) and something in cheetah print (check out my little cheetah from Halloween this year). While I was having no trouble finding Spiderman, they were all ones that could easily break, not ideal for a 3 year-old. And there wasn’t a cheetah print ornament to be found anywhere.
Thankfully inspiration hit when I least expected it — in the form of cheetah print tissues. I was just leaving the craft store when I spotted them next to the cash register. I had already seen the plastic bulbs that you can fill to create your own ornaments, but at that point I had been trying to figure out if I could find a small enough Spiderman or cheetah to stick in them. The tissues gave me a whole new idea.
I picked up a pack, a pack of fabric flowers with a few cheetah print ones in it, and 2 plastic bulbs.
Once home I cut strips from the tissues and used a chopstick to push the strips all the way into the bulb. Then I used the hot glue gun to apply the flowers on the outside and tied a black ribbon on for a hanger.
As for Spiderman, I grabbed some blue and red tissue paper from the craft box, cut it into strips to fill the bulb and applied some flashy hologram Spiderman stickers to it. A red ribbon completed the ornament.
My daughter was thrilled with her cheetah ornament, and little guy was all excited when he realized he had a special ornament, too. Not bad for something so simple and under $4.
Do you do something similar for your kids? What kinds of ornaments have they gotten over the years?
Shared on A Vision to Remember, Be Different Act Normal, Ladybug Blessings
Jamie says
For my younger siblings I’d always pick an ornament out for them every year. I stopped doing it the past few years, they’re older now, but I always enjoyed looking through the ornaments.
And they will all have enough ornaments for their own trees when they move out on their own. =)
A great tradition!
OneMommy says
Love that you used to do it for your siblings!
JDaniel4's Mom says
I love this idea! You can make them to fit everyone’s interests.
OneMommy says
Even the hard to find ones!
Mary says
Four years ago our oldest got us an ornament for our Christmas tree, one that represented something important in his current life. That was a really nice thing.
Rach says
My mom always did this for us too when we were growing up. When I got married she gave me 21 ornaments (one for each year) and they were the first ones to go on our tree. My husband and I get ornaments at each place we travel just as a fun memory of the trip. 🙂 And when we have kids someday we plan to get them an ornament for each year as well. 🙂
OneMommy says
I love that you had so many to start with! And what precious memories!
Julie Moore says
Thanks for sharing these to our 12 Days of Christmas {Goodies} link-up! Love them! 🙂
Britton says
First off, I LOVE the tradition of buying an ornament every year! Second, I would have NEVER, thought to make my own! The cheetah one is ADORABLE! this tradition is DEFINITELY something I am going to consider for next year!
OneMommy says
I never thought of it until after searching several stores for some kind of cheetah print ornament I hadn’t found one. 🙂
Amy Rhodes says
I love this idea I have pinned it and will be doing this now all I need to do is decide what to make it like so many to choose from?
OneMommy says
Oh, the ideas are endless! I was actually thinking of making one for our dog yet…LOL.