Handmade Christmas Tree

At the tree farm!

Once the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers have been eaten up, I'm ready to start thinking about Christmas! My favorite pre-Christmas activity is going to get our tree. Each year, my family heads up to a local tree farm to cut down the perfect tree. There are few things that make me happier than watching all the children decorate our tree, the bigger ones helping the little one reach the high branches. We put on Christmas music, have cookies and hot chocolate, and enjoy spending time together.

Some of our handmade ornaments:
Twig-and-hemp stars, pinecones painted with glitter,
and painted salt clay dough ornaments.

Last year, we decided to try decorating our Christmas tree with all handmade ornaments, just for fun. We went for a walk in the woods to gather pine cones, twigs, and sprigs of juniper. When we got home, we gathered up some hemp cord, ribbons, cinnamon sticks, glue, glitter and paint. We mixed up a batch of salt clay dough, and set to work, spending an entire afternoon together, making ornaments. We also strung cranberries and popcorn, and cut out some paper snowflakes out of coffee filters. That tree had such special meaning to us, as every ornament was handcrafted by our family. The kids enjoyed the handmade tree experiment so much, that they asked if we could do it again this year! So, of course, we did!

So once again, the boxes of our old ornaments remain in the basement, and our tree is decorated entirely with ornaments made by our family. I LOVE our Handmade Christmas Tree! I can't stop smiling when I look at it! It may not be the fanciest tree ever, but as I sit here admiring it, I see the joy and creativity of my children, and that is more beautiful to me than anything.