Christmas Tree Ornaments—The Perfect Travel Keepsake

admin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:34:04 +0000

If you love to travel, why not start a collection of Christmas tree ornaments gathered from your travels? You will end up with the most amazing collection and have something wonderful to pass along to our grandchildren someday.
World travelers know that unique finds can be had at local bazaars and open air markets. Start looking for stalls that sell Christmas gifts and ornaments. You’ll find that they are available all year. In places like Bavaria, where Christmas fests often last for months, shops will sell well-made and highly fashioned ornaments all year round. You can pick them up in many price ranges from the small trinket to the ornately carved or beaded masterpiece. It all depends on what appeals to you.
Each country will have their own type of Christmas ornaments. In Murano, Italy, known for its elegant and highly colored blown glass, you will find many ornaments bearing a milleflori (thousand flowers) design done in glass. If you are in Paris, France, consider buying an ornament that commemorates some of the most iconic symbols of the city such as the Eiffel Tower, Moulin Rouge, Arc de Triomphe, or Notre Dame just to name a few. These are treasured keepsakes that will sparkle on your tree. Just be sure that you wrap them well for the flight home.
Even if you’re not planning a luxury overseas adventure, you can start your Christmas tree ornament collection right at home. Whenever you travel through the United States, pick up an ornament from that particular state. You can do an entire tree themed with Christmas ornaments from all 50 states. And you’ll remember fondly where you picked each of them up. You’ll be surprised at the lovely ornaments you will find. Oftentimes towns compete for the best hand-designed Christmas ornament and ask local artists to participate. So you know you’re getting a beautiful, well-designed handmade ornament at places like these.
Look for towns across the country like Bethlehem, Connecticut with biblical names. This town is tiny, but known all over as the Christmas Town. Bethlehem has a Christmas Festival each year and sells a different pewter ornament designed by a different artist each year. The ornaments have now become collector’s items and are showcased in glass cases in homes. You can pick yours up in your travels or have them mailed to you each year.
Many towns have a Christmas Festival and you can make the rounds picking up ornaments made by local craftspeople. These become unique one-of-a-kind works of art. Write the year on the bottom or back of each one so you can remember where you got it.
Many people enjoy bringing out the Christmas ornaments each year because it’s a memorable walk through family history. Why not start a collection that you can save to pass down to a family member in the next generation? They’ll love having Grandmother’s box of ornaments. And you can write up a little story of where you got each one and put it in a book that will be cherished always.
Whether you’re an armchair traveler and would like your ornaments delivered to your door or you’re an adventurous globe trotter, your ornament collection can be unique and personal. Look for the handmade and your collection will be worth not only sentimental but vintage resale value as well should you ever choose to part with it. But only buy what makes you happy. And use your ornaments to decorate; don’t feel you have to store them in a box to protect them.

eChristmasTrees

Christmas Tree Ornaments—The Perfect Travel Keepsake