Christmas ornaments are popular purchases. Everyone wants a decorated Christmas tree, and everyone has his or her ideas of what a perfect tree looks like. Some individuals prefer designer trees, trees with matching lights, tinsel and ornaments, all crafted with a specific color scheme in mind. Still others prefer an eclectic mixture of ornaments, none of them matching, but all of them combining to bring to life the spirit of Christmas.

This last group of collectors is perhaps the most interesting group. Christmas ornaments are far more than decorations. They are living memories. They are symbols of family vacations, births, weddings and even family members who have passed away. In a way, they function like photographs. But perhaps some of the most memory-invoking ornaments are homemade Christmas ornaments. Not only do these crafts symbolize the family and immortalize memories, they were created directly from the heart, by the hands of the family joining around the tree to decorate it.

The Power of Art

Homemade Christmas ornaments are usually not the fanciest ornaments on the tree. Professional ornaments are literal works of art. Crafted from any number of materials, they are often beautiful, ornate and unique. But homemade Christmas ornaments are works of art too, but a different kind of art. The kind of art that may not be beautiful in the eyes of the public, but that is absolutely stunning in the eyes of the parents of the children who crafted them. Homemade Christmas ornaments can also be made from any number of materials.

Families can sit down during craft time and paint wooden ornaments, create felt and pipe cleaner animals, or even design stained-glass ornaments. Most importantly, children have the freedom to do whatever they want. They can paint themselves, write the date, recreate their family, design a landscape or bring to life a memory of their favorite vacation. If Christmas truly is about family and joining together to celebrate life, than homemade Christmas ornaments are the perfect Christmas tree decorations.

Homemade Christmas ornaments can also make wonderful gifts. Parents and children can craft presents for the rest of the family, or at summer camp, children can design the perfect package for a parent’s birthday, Christmas itself or even Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. Not only do homemade Christmas ornaments help symbolize family trips, they also symbolize family love. Even when they do not directly reflect a specific event, they reflect the family, and sometimes parents especially prefer receiving them as gifts than helping in the process. There is nothing more beautiful at Christmas time than receiving a present from a child who thought enough about his or her parents to work hard, possibly for days, on a certain, beautiful object.