Ornaments

Ornaments are more than decorations on a Christmas tree. With each hook, they hold a memory. They could be a store-bought ornament that was given to mark a milestone in your life. Or maybe it was a handmade item made by your babies who are now grown-up and have babies of their own. Maybe it was a gift from your grandmother who loved you unconditionally, but sadly passed away years ago. We asked our readers to share with us their stories and a photo about their favorite ornaments and we had a wonderful response.

This Christmas, everyone's paying more attention to the bottom line. Whether it's gifts for family or slashing the budget for decorations, anywhere a penny can be pinched is a gift in itself. And so is finding the time to spend a little quality time with your family without breaking the bank. Making salt dough ornaments and cinnamon ornaments not only brings time to actually sit down beside your kids and talk, but it can also bring a lasting memory. What's so wonderful about the craft is that it's inexpensive.

Fulton House featured on ornament By RICHARD F. BELISLE Staff Writer, Waynesboro McCONNELLSBURG, Pa. - A replica of the Fulton House, a downtown McConnellsburg landmark, is the first in a series of buildings represented on Christmas ornaments to be sold every year by the Fulton County Tourist Promotion Agency. The molded ornaments with raised features are hand-painted, signed and numbered, said Mary Hoover, director of the tourism agency. They sell for $15 each, she said.

Mort Künstler, a world-renowned Civil War artist, has donated his artwork to Timber Ridge School in Winchester for its annual Mort Künstler Collectable Christmas Ornaments. That donation has enabled the school to raise more than $625,000 through its ornament sale, with every dollar going to the nonprofit school and its programs.  The school and Künstler forged a relationship in 1986 based on the artist's dealings with several other Winchester businesses. The artist found that the school's administration was offering something that he would like to support.

Ornament obsession keeps the tree covered By ANDREA BROWN-HURLEY andreabh@herald-mail.com Nancy Bowers' Christmas tree is 18 feet tall but hard to see. More than 3,000 hand-made ornaments hide just about every inch of the towering tree in Bowers' Smithsburg home. "Everybody says, 'Where's the green,'" said Bowers, 48. "Every time I think I can't get any more ornaments on it, I tell myself, 'One more will fit.'" Bowers started making ornaments from cloth, wood and other materials about five years ago when she and her husband, Jerry, built their new home with the cathedral ceilings she had always wanted to display a tall tree.

wandaw@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN - It's not every day that an artist's work gets national exposure. That's why Hagerstown's E. Marie McCafferty said she let out a "big scream" after receiving a letter from the White House informing her that her hand-painted holiday ornament was selected to decorate this year's official White House Christmas tree. "I yelled, 'Oh, wow! I've been accepted.' I bounced up and down like a little 2-year-old," McCafferty said. She was one of 313 members of the Society of Decorative Painters whose ornaments were chosen to decorate this year's tree.

Artist creates ornaments out of walnuts By ANDREA BROWN-HURLEY / Staff Writer photos: RICHARD T. MEAGHER / staff photographer HALFWAY - Cameron MacKenzie sums up the Christmas season in a nutshell. The Halfway resident adds tiny Santas, snowflakes and stockings to the inside of halved walnut shells to create unique holiday ornaments. continued Armed with an Exacto knife, Dremel tool, dental instruments, tweezers, glue, paint and a magnifying glass, MacKenzie meticulously cracks, scrapes and hinges his walnut shells before filling them with everything from teeny trains to super-small snowmen.

SHARPSBURG When the Friends of the Washington County Rural Heritage Museum were planning their third annual holiday open house for this weekend, Darc Easton suggested they include something for youngsters to do this year. So Saturday, while the grown-ups were wandering around looking at the exhibits and checking out the log house recently relocated to the property, youngsters were making Christmas decorations the way children might have more than 100 years ago. "It's our way of showing kids what Christmas ornaments were like before Wal-Mart," Easton said.

GREENCASTLE, Pa. -- Dozens of hand-cut ornaments hang on a tree in the home of Jan Eppleman and Harry Miller of Greencastle. Eppleman, who made the ornaments, was one of five homeowners who participated Sunday in the annual Greencastle-Antrim Heritage Christmas Home Tour. Also featured were the homes of Cory and Jessica Green, Cherish and Jeremy Eby, Allyson and Bryan Flynn, Misty and Michael Stenger, and the Antrim House Restaurant.

You can only see a small slice of the room from a doorway at the end of a hall. Yet, in that narrow aperture, flashes of color attract the eye. There are deep blues, shimmering silvers, vibrant pinks and golds. At first glance, they are typical Christmas ornaments adorning a tall evergreen tree. But there is nothing typical about these glass balls. Each has had a centuries-long journey - from Europe across the Atlantic to immigrant homes, antique shops and now The Miller House Museum.

Ornaments are more than decorations on a Christmas tree. With each hook, they hold a memory. They could be a store-bought ornament that was given to mark a milestone in your life. Or maybe it was a handmade item made by your babies who are now grown-up and have babies of their own. Maybe it was a gift from your grandmother who loved you unconditionally, but sadly passed away years ago. We asked our readers to share with us their stories and a photo about their favorite ornaments and we had a wonderful response.

I have a 2-1/2-year old child. Therefore, I learned very quickly that it's best to keep things simple. For instance, because of my newfound Christmas spirit, I wanted to hang outdoor lights, indoor lights, and decorate with candles, wreaths, live greenery and at least two trees. Instead, I settled for my tabletop pink tree sitting by the front window. I thought this would be safe. My daughter would be too young to notice that we aren't inundated with decorations. I thought that because the ornaments I adorned my tiny tree with were special to me, my daughter would be happy to admire them from afar as I do. That would be a no. As quickly as I hung the ornaments, she pulled them off the glittery tree.

Maryland schools were asked to create winter holiday ornaments paying tribute to men and women in uniform, veterans and their families. Smithsburg Middle School art students in Ms. Maginnis' class designed and created patriotic winter holiday ornaments using flags and camouflage, as well as honoring their own families who served.  Student participants were Trystin Smithwick, Isabella Statler, Anna Wilt, Lindsey Draheim, David Johnson, Joey Clem,...

Mort Künstler, a world-renowned Civil War artist, has donated his artwork to Timber Ridge School in Winchester for its annual Mort Künstler Collectable Christmas Ornaments. That donation has enabled the school to raise more than $625,000 through its ornament sale, with every dollar going to the nonprofit school and its programs.  The school and Künstler forged a relationship in 1986 based on the artist's dealings with several other Winchester businesses. The artist found that the school's administration was offering something that he would like to support.

Editor's note: Lisa Prejean is on vacation. This column originally was published in 2008. The weekend after Thanksgiving I take my artificial Christmas tree out of the basement and cart it to school. There's a certain sentimental quality that this tree possesses. It has moved with me from classroom to classroom over the years. Not that the tree is anything spectacular. Far from it. The branches are bent, the stem stands a little crooked and it's about half the size of a normal Christmas tree.

You can only see a small slice of the room from a doorway at the end of a hall. Yet, in that narrow aperture, flashes of color attract the eye. There are deep blues, shimmering silvers, vibrant pinks and golds. At first glance, they are typical Christmas ornaments adorning a tall evergreen tree. But there is nothing typical about these glass balls. Each has had a centuries-long journey - from Europe across the Atlantic to immigrant homes, antique shops and now The Miller House Museum.

The Hagerstown-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau has announced that a Maryland Campaign 150th Anniversary commemorative ornament is available for purchase in the downtown Visitor Welcome Center. The ornament features both Union and Confederate soldiers and their respective flags. The Maryland Campaign 150th ornament costs $25 and comes a box. The ornament is available at the Visitor Welcome Center at 6 N. Potomac St., downtown Hagerstown. The Welcome Center is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, call 301-791-3246.

Cazenovia College's Fashion Connection Club put together a small holiday tree decorated with handmade shoe ornaments. Shoe shopping devotees were able to bid on the tree at the Everson Museum's annual Festival of Trees, held in early December. Lana R. Lewis, of Brunswick, Md., was among the students who assisted with the project. Lewis, a senior, is majoring in fashion design.

A Christmas ornament-making class was held at Girls Inc. on Dec. 14. The event was sponsored by Pottery By Me and Contemporary School of the Arts and Gallery Inc.

Regular customers at the City Farmers Market know Margaret Pheil for her homemade ornaments and crafts. This time of year, she works hard to keep up with the demand for her beaded satin ball and shaped ornaments. Her thumbs have the calluses to prove it. Pheil, 88, has been "going to market" for at least 30 years to the City Farmers Market at 25 W. Church St. in Hagerstown. Prior to that, she went with her mother, who used to sell vegetables and Christmas wreaths. Now, Pheil loads up her 1989 Ford station wagon on Saturdays for the weekly trip to town.