Oh, Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree, I need you to look beautiful, have no breakable ornaments, and share the story of our family. You can do all of that, right?!
Hi, I’m Jamie, founder of C.R.A.F.T., and I have a very curious and energetic 20-month-old son, Maxwell. Max loves shiny, bright, new objects, and I knew the Christmas tree would be a big hit. That’s why this year I made it my goal to decorate our Christmas tree with no breakable objects so that I could allow him to touch and interact with the tree as much as he wanted. I also love the idea of starting a family ornament-making tradition so that each year we can add a few DIY ornaments to our tree. Maxwell is pretty proud of his tree, and if you were to come hang out, he would (nicely) demand that you view the brilliance of his decorated Christmas tree… And then he would proceed to squeal with delight at all of the sparkles and lights! He would also make sure that you notice the choo-choo train on the giant Advent calendar!
The theme of our tree this year is “Oh What Fun!” I used the Pottery Barn Kids felt garland and cut the strand into three pieces to make it really stand out on our 7.5-foot Christmas tree. The tree topper is simple, cute, and best of all not breakable. It consists of a Santa hat paired with sparkly tree picks.
To start out family tradition of making DIY ornaments, I used the Pottery Barn Kids glitter frame ornaments, paint, and his finger and footprints. I love that the glitter frames ornaments have plastic instead of glass to protect the pictures, or in our case, artwork. To make a reindeer ornament, I used a paint brush to paint a small amount of brown, non-toxic paint on his thumb and stamped it on a piece of white card stock. After it dries, I used a marker to add the antler, nose, and eye details to the reindeer face.
We also made a reindeer footprint, which I think is my favorite! I suggest doing this one outside or while your toddler is in their highchair. Don’t forget to add a date to each of your ornaments. I’m excited that we took an afternoon to start our ornament making tradition and I want to be able to remember how old he was when his foot was that tiny!
And last, but not least we made a fingerprint Christmas tree with green paint and marker-enhanced decorations. I love that our DIY ornaments involve his little prints, and we can look back on these each year to chart how much he has grown.
Maxwell and I also made some DIY paper tree ornaments that are cute, festive, and involve a lot of scribbling! You can see Maxwell hanging up one of beauties below. To check out the full toddler-made ornament tutorial be sure to visit C.R.A.F.T.
Seen in this post:
Oh What Fun Garland | Fair Isle Tree Skirt
Red Frame Tree Ornament | Glitter Frame Ornaments | Yarn Tassels
Photos by:
Such an adorable idea! I need to make these with my 20 month old, too!