The tree is completely covered in ornaments made by the children. The lime green sparkle tree is covered in crystallized pipe cleaners, toilet paper tube angels, hand print reindeer, and glitter stars, all made by my children's sweet little hands. We love redecorating it each year and adding any newly created masterpieces.
This tradition started in our family when Cameron was old enough to bring home ornaments from day care. Every time a person came to our house, he would want to show them his creations on the big tree. This, of course, was not the safest activity for a toddler and led to a few near tragedies. The next year, we started with a small craft store tree for their creations. We have had this sparkly tree for about 3 years and it adds a bit of fun to our tradition. If you decide to stop by and check it out, you can't miss it. We keep our special little tree right in the foyer.
I have discovered that there is one sad part to this tree... There were very few ornaments added this year. The kiddos are growing up and they no longer bring home ornaments for us from school. Ella still makes one here or there, but mostly we have passed that stage. I hope the children will keep wanting to get the tree out each year, so we can ooh and ah over all their past creations. Otherwise, I would miss those brown dough gingerbread men, beaded wreathes, and origami stars.
