Open Call for Ornaments

Turns out that people get really excited about the handcrafted ornaments on their trees. In response to my previous post about my heirloom ornaments, I have learned a lot about yours!

On Sunday my mother-in-law gave me a tour of all the handmade ornaments on her tree. It's a gorgeous tree: it looks like it should be in a magazine, with the deep red garland perfectly sweeping around the limbs, and gold accents that bring out the warm tones in all her ornaments. But the coolest thing about her tree is that even though it looks picture-perfect, it is composed almost entirely of ornaments made by herself, her sister, or her kids. 

She told me that she tried to mark life occassions big and small with needlepoint ornaments. A trip to Cape Cod, the birth of her children, a new home, etc. One of my favorite ornaments was the choo-choo train that said 5:02 -- my father-in-law's train many years ago.  That one really tickled my fancy, though I'm not nearly as excited about my 6:01. I will post some photos as soon as Santa brings me my digital camera!

And my very lovely friend Renu sent me photos of her new husband's old family ornaments. We had lunch yesterday to celebrate the holiday before we visit our families, and she admitted to me that she has a full blown case of Indian-Gone-Christmas right now. For someone who loves thoughtful gifts, beautiful wrapping paper, and festivity in general, it was bound to happen. An update this morning revealed that she was up until 1 a.m. writing Christmas Cards. Here are her new family ornaments.

The bird and pine cone were made by Renu's husband and his mother. You know my mother always says you have to have a bird in your tree for good luck. 

The mailbox was made in 1980 or 1981 by her husband's grandmother. I recognize this style from my mom's tree. A classic.

And this needlepoint stocking is very similar to the one my 

grandmother made for me! This one was made by her husband's godmother.