Make your Christmas Tree a Family Tree

Decorating Christmas trees is one of the fun parts of Christmas. It is a tradition that many people observe. Some people plan a theme for the tree and stick to certain colors of garlands and bows and lights and ornaments. Others may put up a collection of ornaments and decorations that have been accumulated over the years.

Over the years I have accumulated a lot of ornaments. Some were gifts from others. Some were handmade by myself or by my daughters. Some have special meaning and others just are pretty.

This year as I thought about how to decorate my tree I thought about making it a family tree. Family trees honor your family members whether it includes your ancestors or whether it includes your children and grandchildren. I was thinking why not create ornaments with photos of my ancestors and then place them on the tree. I don't have all of my ancestors photos, but I do have quite a few.

Then you could find ornaments of things that relate to your ancestors and remind you of events in their lives. Maybe you know about some of their Christmas celebrations, and you could find ornaments that represent their celebrations. Maybe you can find ornaments that show part of their lives. My parents raised chickens and sold the eggs. Maybe I could find ornaments of chickens or eggs to represent them. I have ancestors who crossed the plains in covered wagons. Maybe I could find a miniature covered wagon to represent them. Maybe you could print a favorite recipe on a card to hang from the tree. If you have a musician in the family, hang a miniature instrument to represent them.

You could do a simple tree with just hanging ornaments made from the family photos, or you could be more elaborate by writing stories about them in little booklets or on scrolls to hang from the tree and be available to be read by family members. It might be an ongoing project over the years to turn your Christmas tree into a family tree.