by JoHarrington
There is nothing more special than being around children for Christmas.
Your little one is way too young to know much about this first one, but you can be sure that the next few will be magical. That's why many people choose to have a keepsake of their infant's first Christmas.
Personalized or merely meaningful, there is an array of Christmas ornaments for babies out there. The problem is going to be narrowing them down for your own tree!
 2014 Baby's First Christmas Ornament |
There will only ever be one festive season like this. Your infant only gets to experience their first Christmas once.
The very nature of it means that they're too young to really appreciate it, but you get to watch them wide eyed with wonder.
You get to mark their advent into this world with a keepsake ornament. Some of which will only ever be available during the year of your baby's first Christmas.
Here I've collected together a range of decorations from which you may choose.
They span the usual Hallmark offerings through to others a little more rare, like Christmas Forest's Baby's First Christmas 2014 ornament featured to the right.
Items like that are automatically one of a kind, as they're handcrafted. Each one reflects what the artisan felt in the moment, even if they're working towards a pattern laid out in advance.
A little like a baby then, each one born according to human DNA; each one individual to the hour.
Let's kick off with Hallmark - the most famous keepsake ornaments for new babies around - as that's what most people will come to see. But if you prefer to find the hidden gems, then carry on down beneath that array.
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Each year, Hallmark create a unique Christmas ornament. It will never be repeated and it will bear the year of your baby's birth.
For 2014, the sleeping cub forms our main event. It's not a toy, so please don't hand it to baby to gnaw upon!
The beauty of Hallmark Keepsake decorations is that they are limited edition. They aren't only merely something to look pretty on the tree. They could be an investment too, as collectors are willing to pay top dollar for rare ones over time.
For this reason, some people don't even hang Hallmark Keepsakes on their tree. They will eventually be worth much more, if they are in mint condition and still in the box. However not every ornament gains in value. That's the gamble that you take!
Nor is Hallmark's cub the only Christmas tree decoration for babies. There are plenty more Hallmark baby collections running right alongside.
To begin, there's this one, which can be customized with your little one's photograph.
The teddy bear theme is maintained in the next Hallmark Keepsake decorations for 2014 collection.
Their matching pair of first Christmas baby keepsakes are billed as pink for a girl and blue for a boy, which is pretty much what everyone would anticipate there.
I'd be tempted to be rebellious and swop the colors around. Who says that one gender has the monopoly over a hue? *peers carefully* Oh! We can't. Hallmark have actually included labels upon the dangling hearts. Respectively, they read: 'baby girl's 1st Christmas' and 'baby boy's 1st Christmas'. Thwarted!
Now we're wandering off into the Hallmark Keepsake Collections, most of which include at least one designated for a baby.
Winnie the Pooh down below was a Hallmark Gold Crown Exclusive, which means that it was only offered to registered members at first. It appears to have been a winner with them!
Hallmark have had to up their game with this one. Previous incarnations of their Winnie the Pooh Baby's First Christmas decoration haven't quite been up to scratch. There was much controversy in 2012, when the quality was deemed well below par.
They've made up for it now. 2014's Baby's First Winnie the Pooh Christmas memento has been received to universal acclaim, insofar as I can tell!
Hallmark don't have the monopoly on ornamental collections nor, beyond the name, keepsakes.
For those looking for a high quality decoration to add to their tree, then there's plenty to choose between.
One of the most popular ones is the annual gift boxed offering from Reed & Barton. This year it's a matching pair of moons, encased in silver plate.
The Baby's First Christmas 2014 Moon is three inches high and dangles from a pink or blue ribbon, bearing the legend of the holiday and the year.
It would be a rather classy ornament to mark your infant's arrival.
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Given the company's historic reputation, as crafters and purveyors of fine crystal, I expected to find their Christmas ornaments following suit. But most of them are silver plated dainties instead!
If the materials challenged expectations, then the price tag did not. This is a world renowned brand name. Its chandeliers are used in Westminster Abbey; and its crystals are used in the famous New Year's Eve Ball, which is dropped in Times Square, New York, each year. Therefore you don't anticipate anything by Waterford to come cheaply.
However, once placed in that context, then the $29 - $80 price tags aren't so dear after all.
If you are looking for something truly unique and personal this Christmas, then it's difficult to think of anything more so than these decorations.
This will be the only festive period where you will be able to take foot and hand prints of your baby's first Christmas. These will be cast and kept for the rest of their lives.
Carter's Hand and Foot Print Keepsake is framed as both an ornament and a gift. It comes in a presentation box accordingly.
Your infant's prints are reproduced in ink, but without any mess. Their hands and feet never actually come into contact with the ink.
Pearhead have gone down the clay casting route. Their kit includes all that is needed to impress your baby's foot print, then prepare it for hanging on the tree.
Though it's all geared towards feet, there is nothing stopping you going for a hand print instead.
The finished product does not need baking. Create it and you're good to go!
As with the Carter's kit, the Pearhead casting set can be given as a gift too. The packaging is designed accordingly.
This might be the thing for grandparents, as well as parents; and it will be discussed every Christmas for years to come.
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 Gisela Graham Baby's First Christmas ... |
The glass gift decoration for a baby's first Christmas, pictured left, was crafted by Gisela Graham. It's a limited edition piece, and not prohibitively expensive.
This British handcrafted baby bauble is just one of dozens collected on Christmas Time UK's website.
In addition to the ornaments, the company has a range of baby's first Christmas gifts, including a stocking for your little one to leave out for Father Christmas's inaugural visit.
Another first right there in your infant's growing festive calendar! But one which they will eventually be hoping repeats on an annual basis.
Glass blown by mouth, and individually hand painted, these decorations have been crafted by the Merck family.
Each ornament is two and three-quarter inches tall and liberally sprinkled with glitter. That, in turn, will catch your Christmas lights and reflect them back beautifully.
You are only looking at one Baby's First Christmas decoration here though.
They come in blue or pink (with an expectation of the usual gender designations there), but otherwise are exactly the same.
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Comments
I love Winnie the Pooh! He was great before, then I read 'The Zen of Pooh' and his greatness was secured in my mind.
Winnie the Pooh Bear!
Me too! That was my favourite. I could see that being precious for a whole life-time, then being passed on as a family keepsake.
I like the first foot print decoration