Christmas Ornaments Guide

What make people collect things? The most common reason is that they like the items they collect, and get pleasure from having them.  At Christmas there may be other reasons for collecting such as collecting ornaments as keepsakes for your children or grandchildren. It maybe that you crystal collection could do with a theme, so you add more Christmas related items. Some items are collected because they religious or cultural significance. Others as keepsakes form travels around the globe. Some people collect as a form of investment.

Tradition – Family Collections

For family members collecting to start their children off on their own Christmas decoration box, it may start with the bauble with your child’s name on for their first Christmas and go from there. Some homemade Christmas gifts end up in the Christmas box.  Some collections just happen as each year your child chooses an ornament or make some artwork at school and they keep being added to the box. Some things are more special than others, the ones that remind you of a particular age or stage, such as the ball they chased when they were just crawling.

From a Hobby

Some collections come about as an extension to a hobby you already enjoy. Collecting cats may lead you to collect Christmas cats! If you collect china then you may look for Christmas related pieces that would give you a special mini collection to enjoy at Christmas.  Some people collect soft toys and add Christmas dressed ones to their collection for the festive season.  Another type of Christmas decoration that is great to collect is angels – it is so easy to fill your house with angels for the yuletide.

As A Momento

If you are a traveler and like have keepsakes, but don’t need them displayed all year round, then collecting Christmas themed ornaments from the places you have been to can be effective. At Christmastime you can open the box filled with memories of the countries and cultures you have seen, and then put them away at the end of the holidays.

Some people collect items that have cultural significance or are important family traditions. These items help make each family’s traditions unique. Religious items are very important to those with faith.

Christmas Decorations As An Investment

Items can also be collected as investments – these can be enjoyed now or put aside for later. An example of this kind of ornament is Swarovski crystal. Swarovski produce very fine crystal and every year release a limited edition Christmas star that is only available for the year of issue. Some of these stars have been valuable as there are very few of them in existence. They are lovely ornament that is also an investment.

These are a few of the reasons why people collect Christmas ornaments.  Christmas decorations are available for such a short time, so whatever your reason, I hope you enjoy them!

Christmas ornaments and decorations are one of the best things about the lead up to Christmas. When I was younger I used to love browsing through the shops just looking at all the lovely bright glittery Christmas things. I was never allowed to buy, but we love the excitement of getting the decorations box out and dressing the tree and the house.  Now I look forward to the Christmas season, mainly to see what new ideas there are about Christmas decorations. There are so many varieties of ornaments available now.

What’s Your Favorite?

My favourite Christmas ornaments for the tree it has to be said are the Swarovski crystal ones. I love my crystal stars and the little house. I will try to find a picture of them. Having said that I do like most other kinds of glass ornament too. I have some gorgeous hand blown glass balls, some with gold leaf, much to precious for the children’s Christmas tree so that have to wait a while before I can hang them again. I love the way the lights play on and through the glass it makes the tree so special.

Natural Christmas Ornaments

I also like natural Christmas ornaments, wooden or straw.I once found an interesting alternative to the Christmas – a wicker spriral,about 6 ft long, wrapped in faux greenery, white lights and hung outside, it makes a lovely entrance piece. I have made my own bauble out of felted wool, wrapped in embroidery thread and then woven with contrasting colors. I much later found that it is called a temari ball. It is nice to have contributed your own handiwork to the Christmas ornament collection.

Children’s Christmas Decorations

My children also love Christmas ornaments, as I was not allowed to buy them as a child, we have a tradition of each child being able to choose one new ornament each Christmas, that way they will have the start of their own collection by the time they leave home. My kids get so excited at looking at Christmas ornaments and choose carefully which one they would like. They also get to make different ones at home, we have many varieties of homemade decorations, from angels of varying styles to stars and reindeer.

My children have taken over the tree decoration and it is great that they do, but I am looking forward to getting it back (or maybe just get my own tree!) to put all my special Christmas ornaments on.

To find out some of my favorite Christmas Ornaments