Vintage and Heirloom Christmas Ornaments

As I was lining up my Christmas ornaments this year, I took some pictures to add to my heirloom album.  (I try to take pictures of things that are passed along to me, and put it in an album along with a picture of the person that it came from, and a short paragraph about it.)  Some of them are really neat, so I thought that I would share here too.  (I even have a fair amount of handmade ornaments in the mix, as I come from a very creative family.)  This little mouse belonged to my Grandma, and it was likely hanging on her tree when my Dad was a child.



This is one of a few beaded ornaments that I have from my other Grandma - its called the sputnik.  Her mother taught her how to make beaded ornaments, and she taught my mom and all of her granddaughters (including me) how to make them.  She used to set up a large tree covered entirely in hand beaded ornaments around this time of year.  She also used to make us an edible Christmas tree out of sweet rolls, so these ornaments remind me of that too.



This bell is one that my Mom made, using a pattern from my Grandma. My Mom has several types of beaded ornaments on her tree too.



This little doll is from my mother-in-law.  Her mom had it hanging on the tree every year when she was a girl, and she gave it to me a few years ago.



This Pooh ornament is one that my Mom had on our tree - and we were never allowed to touch them.  She gave it to me after I moved away from home.



This little wooden monkey is another ornament that was on the tree when I was little.  My Mom let me have it one year.  He really is kind of funny looking, I don't know why I like it.



This ornament is proof that I have always been making stuff - I made several of these out of scrap wood, using sand and shells from a trip to the beach when I was in middle school and gave them to all of my aunts and uncles that year.



I made several of these another year, also as gifts for my extended family.  I thought the pouchy belly was cute on the bear.



This is another beaded ornament, that I made last year, based on ornaments I made with my Grandma and Mom.  They take about an hour to make.



And this last ornament isn't an heirloom, but it is the first ornament that my husband and I got after we were married, so I thought that I'd put it in here too.

I don't have room to set up a tree, but I did clear off a shelf and set my ornaments out this year.  I am not really into holiday traditions, especially considering the pagan roots of many of them, so I don't mind missing out on the tree.  I do like having some of the vintage things that my grandparents had though, and think that its fun to display them once a year.