ornaments and their stories :: a mini-album

While the ornaments are out and you're in family memory capture mode, snap some photos of your ornaments and holiday decorations. Each year, I think to myself, "Will the kids remember why this ornament is special or who gave it to us?" Probably not and one day, I won't either.

Ornaments and Their Stories | Monika Wright

This project is my spin on an original idea from Stacy Julian, and you can find her version of it here. Stacy and her family recorded their advent season memories and when I read about it last year, I had planned to use the same premise to record the memories behind all the ornaments on our Christmas tree.

This year, I  won't be outdone by time! I have the album I purchased last year and am using journaling cards I designed to place beside each photo with the story/memory associated with it. I could have made my journaling card more colorful, but decided against that so that the colors of the ornaments take center stage. I will probably spice it up just a bit by adding patterned paper and flat embellishments, but I'll see how all that works out as I go along. 

Ornaments and Their Stories | Monika Wright
Ornaments and Their Stories | Monika Wright

There's no right or wrong way about this project, you do what feels most like you. After all, if you capture a story and a memory, does it really matter what paper or album you chose? Not really. What matters is that you have captured pieces of your family history.

And don't be stressed. Didn't get all the ornaments photographed this year? Don't worry. Just continue with your stories next year when you pull it all out again. They'll be there waiting on you!

You can download the journaling cards here, there are three different versions and include trim marks sized to 4x6 for you. I have more free downloads for you here. 

18 comments

  1. I have been wanting to do an ornament album for some time now. I'm definitely going to mark this as one to remember. Thanks. : )

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  2. What a great idea, Monika! Love it. Thanks for the download. I might just get to this before I put the ornaments away :) I'm jealous of your cute album. *Sigh* wish we had Target here! LOVE your idea, your journaling and your talent.

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  3. i love this idea, monika! when we put up our tree this year my daughter chit chatted about the different ornaments we put up there and it hit me that those are the moments where she has a sense of tradition!

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  4. I love this idea! LOVE it! Each year we have the kids pick out a new ornament to hang on the tree, but documenting them in a mini is a wonderful idea! :) Now, if I can only find time before we take the tree down!

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  5. This has been on my to do list for a few years. We buy our daughter a new ornament every year, and try to get one that has meaning for that year, so I want to make a mini for her ornaments. We also buy ornaments everywhere that we travel, so I'd like to do a mini of those as well. Maybe this will be the year I start working on those!

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  6. LOVE this idea! I need to do this ofr my kids-I have ornaments from my childhood that I don't remember the story behind!

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  7. Oh, I have had this idea of writing about each ornaments in my inspiration binder since the beginning of the year! I love your simple example! Great inspiration as always!

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  8. This is beautiful, Monika! What a great way to focus on the little things!

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  9. Just a quick note to let you know that a link to this post will be placed on CraftCrave today [15 Dec 01:00am GMT]. Thanks, Maria

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  10. This is one of the most unique and adorable ideas I have seen in a long time. I love it, and I'm definitely starting one for my family. Thank you for sharing :)

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  11. Fantastic idea! Thank you for sharing your journaling cards - they will be a tremedous help to get me moving on this project!!

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  12. Wonderful idea - I think I'll steal! : )

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  13. What a beautiful idea! My Mom passed along my ornaments (one per year) when I got married, so I would have a decorated tree my first Christmas as a newlywed.

    I've started doing the same for my girls and, of course, we have all the handmade kitsch from my school years and theirs.

    This is lovely and heartwarming. I can't wait to make ours as I put away ornaments this year!

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  14. I've been trying to get myself to do ornament book for a few years now. Your journaling cards are great & will definitely help me get my book going. THank you !!!

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  15. Thank you so much for sharing this! I saw it on Pinterest and was inspired to do something similar. Thanks so much for the journaling cards, too. That makes it super simple to begin!

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  16. This is a very special idea.. Time to start a new tradition! Thanks for the journaling cards.

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  17. So where were you 30 years ago when I first needed this idea? I L.O.V.E. this album. I have a tradition in my family that I started when my first chid (Noah) was born and added another when daughter (Hannah) came along. On Thanksgiving everybody receives a Christmas ornament tucked under their dinner napkin. That was their ornament for that year for them to keep so when they grew up and moved away they would already have ornaments for their first Christmas tree. Even if you were a guest at our Thanksgiving dinner, you still recieved an ornament. I never thought of photographing and recording those memories in an album. However, I have a grandson (Austin) and I can just jump in and start an album for him. So glad I found this little page of yours today. I will be back for certain. Merrie Christmas!

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