Comments on: French Industrial Ornaments

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 20:38:59 +0000

We decided to hang all our old ski passes (we live in a ski town) on our tree this year. Good place to keep track of them all!

By: Eleonore

Eleonore — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 05:31:46 +0000

Those are so great!
As for untraditional tree decorations, my three-year-old is in going through a phase of being very interested in participating in tree decorating. Almost every night after the kids are put to bed, my husband and I have found an odd item from around the house (eg. a tangerine, a walnut, a mushroom, a baby sock, tea bags, one of my bras) on the tree, thoughtfully placed there by Liam.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:44:32 +0000

What an awesome find! Looking forward to seeing how they turn out!

My boyfriend collects Pez dispensers, so we hand some special “pez dispenser ornaments” on the tree.

By: Ann

Ann — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:50:16 +0000

I can’t wait to see how these look!

By: Amy

Amy — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:12:42 +0000

An old scrubbie! My great grandmother used to make scrubbies (dish scouring balls made out of some kind of meshy material). We always loved them. So after she died, we kept one as a keepsake and every year it has a place of honor on our Christmas tree.

By: julia fain

julia fain — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:12:24 +0000

what a great find! do the letters spell anything interesting? you could reuse those in so many ways

By: Barchbo

Barchbo — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:02:47 +0000

I lived in various apartments until I got married (at 38) so most years I had a little tree. My favorite unusual ornaments include: polaroid photos of my Christmas party, costume jewelry, cardboard bar coasters, and construction paper stars that I had my student aides make me when I taught school. I always used things that can be reused or recycled – saved space!

By: Nicola

Nicola — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:25:51 +0000

We have roundels just like that on the panelling all around the gorgeous French house we are currently living in. It sets off our tree nicely! Just discovered your blog – we are living not too far from you just outside Paris and our youngest (of four!) is just ten days older than June. Funny what a small world it is in cyberspace!

By: staey

staey — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:03:10 +0000

These are so lovely! I wish I had a hundred just like them!

By: CindiS

CindiS — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:48:19 +0000

When I first started teaching, my roommate and I got a tree, but didn’t have money for ornaments, so I brought home my students’ recent art projects… God’s Eyes. You know, those yarn projects made on a two-sticked thing? yep. My first adult Christmas tree was decorated with stolen (well, not really “stolen”, maybe “borrowed” since I returned them after the holiday) 3rd grade art. Now I hang one up every year, just as a reminder.

By: Jessica Herberger

Jessica Herberger — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 05:16:05 +0000

My grandmothers baby shoes and I tie vintage flatware to the the branches with twine.

By: Jamaise

Jamaise — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 03:33:03 +0000

Wow! That is such a find . And the items are real and will generate memories. Love when that happens. Our most unusual ornaments currently are the bulbs from a broken Galileo thermometer. They were way too pretty to toss and they have found their perfect home on our tree. The little metal discs with the temperatures add such interest to to the bulbs that might be mistaken for a Christmas ornament without.

By: mandi@herbanhomestead

mandi@herbanhomestead — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 03:13:36 +0000

Wow! What an incredible find! Our tree is a mish-mash of handmade ornaments (think drawings of Mario and Link on construction paper) and the store bought the kids get to pick out every year. The most “different” one this year is that our topper is an owl. He’s just perched up there, happy as can be!

By: Christine

Christine — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 02:37:57 +0000

After my grandma died my mom turned her false teeth into an ornament and now they are hung on the tree every year… usually in the back if I can help it!

By: robin

robin — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 01:43:57 +0000

Those stencils will make lovely ornamanets! Didn’t you post about the ceramic marker mugs? perhaps some plates are in order….We have a retro tin toy flying saucer as our tree topper.

By: Melissa L.

Melissa L. — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:39:11 +0000

Ours is a Santa sitting in an outhouse reading his map. His horse is parked outside. May seem a bit rude for some, but it has meaning for us. I am a city girl and when my husband and I were first dating, we visited his best friend at his summer camp where an outhouse was in use . . . not a port-a-potty, an old-fashioned, moon-in-door- outhouse. Our kids love showing this one off to friends.

By: Melissa L.

Melissa L. — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:34:11 +0000

I love this idea – if I don’t find someone who wants our mobile, I think I’ll do this, too. Thanks for sharing.

By: Janet Oliver

Janet Oliver — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:05:19 +0000

A toy rocket ship is our tree-topper every year. Don’t you love shopping in your own house? That flower is probably a boss (an ornament that marks the intersection of the vaulting) from a cathedral or church.

By: Amy

Amy — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 23:53:49 +0000

Those are Le Corbusier stencils. Nice find!

By: Linnea

Linnea — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 23:49:12 +0000

I love finding surprise treasure like that! How fun!