Have you ever considered creating a memory tree? There are so many beautiful Christmas trees out there that are filled with family memories. If you are curious to start your own memory tree, here are ten memory tree ideas for creating your own beautiful memory tree for this and many more Christmas seasons.
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Our Memory Tree
In August 1992, I met and started dating Brian, the man who would one day become my husband. During December of that year, I was strolling through our hometown drug store when an ornament caught my eye. It featured two bears with the phrase “First Christmas Together.” I decided to purchase the ornament that day and, thus, began a tradition of buying an ornament each year to signify what had happened in our lives that year.
Thirty years have passed since our first Christmas together. We married in 1994 and soon added three boys to our family. We’ve collected many ornaments during the years. Some ornaments represented special times in our lives; others were gifts from family and friends. Today, our tree is full of ornaments that tell the story of our lives. Here’s a look at our Memory Tree:
Our very first Memory Tree was just a small tabletop tree that proudly bore our “First Christmas Together” ornament. Today, we have a 7-foot tree that’s packed with ornaments that have a special meaning to our family. It’s really difficult for us to even fit all our special ornaments on the tree anymore.
Every December when we begin to decorate the tree, we unwrap our special ornaments one by one. Our whole family gets excited as we pull them out and reminisce about the memories they bring. Of all the traditions of Christmas, our Memory Tree is the most important one to us. Allow me to share with you some of our favorite ornaments and why they are so special to us!
10 Memory Tree Ideas for your Christmas Tree
Would you like to start your own memory tree? Here are some ideas to get you started. Don’t worry traditions can be started at any time, you don’t have to be newly married to start a memory tree, you just must start! Here are some ideas from my own memory tree to inspire you.
1. Christmas Ornaments for Parents to Be
Remember the excitement of learning that you were expecting! Those type of moments are ideal for adding to your memory Christmas tree. Here is the one that we bought.
2. Character Christmas Ornaments
With three boys, we watched many episodes of Bob the Builder though the years. The character ornament delighted our boys when they were small.
Other popular character ideas are:
3. Vacation Memory Ornaments
We returned from each vacation with an ornament to help us remember our travels.
4. Childhood Ornaments
My husband treasures some of the ornaments that were on his mother’s tree when he was young. She always hung the blue clock ornament and the crystal tree that was a gift from my husband’s sixth grade teacher.
5. Ornaments that are Gifts from Friends and Family
This crystal bird is a delicate ornament that was given to us by Brian’s great aunt. She’s been gone for many years now, but we think of her whenever we hang her ornament.
The glittery pinecone was a gift from another of Brian’s great aunts. She surprised me with this ornament one year when we had traveled to spend some time in her home.
I treasure the paisley ornament that was a gift from one of my college professors. Each year as he traveled to Florida for a vacation, he and his wife stopped at a Christmas store in Georgia to select an ornament for the students who worked in his office. I was so appreciative that they put so much effort into finding a special gift for me!
I’ve taught music in the schools and piano lessons in my home for many years. There are many ornaments from my students.
My middle son is particularly close to one of his uncles because they share a love of firearms and hunting. My son loves the homemade ornament that his uncle made from an old shotgun shell
6. Homemade Grandparent Ornaments
Every year, my grandmother worked hard to have a beautifully decorated Christmas tree in her living room. She chose her décor color very carefully and tried to stay up with the current decorating trends. One year, she decided to decorate with mauve and cream. She walked around the block to our hometown drugstore (the same one where I bought my first ornament) to select fabrics and ribbons to make her own ornaments. The fan is one of the ornaments we made together. It is priceless to me!
7. My boys’ Hobbies
Through the years, my sons have played various instruments. There are many ornaments I purchased to represent their talents.
We all LOVE the ornament of Animal on the drums. I bought it one year when my middle son started playing the drums. It plays the sound of Animal drumming and yelling. We always get a chuckle out of it!
8. National Event Christmas Ornaments
Remember the Y2K scare? We bought the “hats off” snowman ornament to mark that national event.
Amazon is filled to the brim of hilarious pandemic Christmas ornaments to commemorate the last two years of insanity.
9. Homemade Christmas Ornaments
I cherish the ornament that my children have made over the years. Some were made in school; others we made together at home.
You can even make ornaments with your baby! It takes a little bit of time, patience, and creativity, but make sure to cherish those baby moments. They go very fast.
7. The Christmas Pickle
The pickle ornament has started several fights over the years! The tradition is that whoever finds the Christmas Pickle on Christmas morning gets to open the first gift. Of course, all three of my boys wanted to open the first gift, so there were always two unhappy little boys once the pickle had been found.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at some of our favorite ornaments. Our tree is not the fanciest tree there is. It’s not considered a designer tree, either! But it means the world to us. We love to gather around the tree during the month of December and remember the great times we’ve had as a family. We all cherish our Memory Tree.
Start your own memory tree this year and bring some Seasonal Beauty into your family traditions!
A Little More About Andrea
Andrea is a wife, mom to three sons, piano teacher, and leader of worship at her church youth group. She used to write at “Sharing my Favorite” to help busy women balance family, home, and work, but has decided to take a break to pursue other passions.