Christmas Decorating Ideas - Edible Ornaments

Although it is now more decades away than I care to admit too often, there were four things I loved most about my childhood Christmases in England:

1. the excitement of the Christmas gifts being put under the Christmas tree, and then the family opening of the gifts on Christmas morning;

2. the food; all the special sweets being put out Christmas Eve; Christmas Lunch with the turkey, lots of roast potatoes, brandy butter, and Christmas pudding being set alight at the table;

3. all the Christmas ornaments and decorations going up before Christmas, and most especially putting up and decorating the Christmas tree; and,

4. the games we would play.

Food, though, did play a major part, and still does in English homes today. So, really, it is no surprise that food even became part of the Christmas ornament repertoire. Food, in one form or another, became part of the decoration of Christmas time.

From my memory, edible Christmas ornaments were usually in the form of chocolate with a silver or gold coloured wrapping that sparkled on the tree. Chocolate coins were popular, sometimes more than one in a brightly coloured string bag dangling temptingly from the Christmas tree.

I must admit, any edible ornament on the tree became a prime target, as I anxiously awaited the all clear from my parents to start devouring whatever I wanted.

Later, though, a greater variety of edible Christmas ornaments emerged, such as candy canes; then, as the popularity of edible ornaments increased at Christmas, people started to use their imagination to make their own, or the local baker would make more elaborate ornaments for sale.

Cookies, or at least cookie dough, make a good base for ornaments, as they are easy to cut into shape. You can use your imagination on adding the colour, such as with Smarties or other colourful sweets. Adding a frosting effect is not too difficult either.

If you do make dough based ornaments to hang on the Christmas tree, remember you will need to make a hole in the cookie before it cools; that's the way the cookie doesn't crumble. Then when they do cool, you can thread a decorative ribbon to hang them on the Christmas tree.

The Christmas tea table is often adorned by the prime edible ornament, the Christmas cake. The prettier it is, the better it is for decoration once lunch is out of the way. Cake decoration is only limited by your imagination. However, you can think of other things that are less common to adorn the table as an edible ornament. If you are skilful, you can create simple models with ginger bread, moving up a level from the old gingerbread man.

You will find lots of ideas online and in the stores, but if you can come up with something original, that is even better. Just let your imagination go and see what you come up with. At least, if it does not look too good, you can just eat it before anyone comments!

This Christmas ornament article was written by Roy Thomsitt, owner author of the Xmas-Ornament.com website.

Related News

Tax holidays coming - New Vision New Vision Tax holidays coming New Vision, Uganda -4 hours ago THE Government has pledged to provide tax holidays to local manufacturers to improve locally-produced products. The move is aimed at boosting productivity, ... Magnificent Mile Lights Fest, Thanksgiving Day Parade kick off ... - MLive.com MLive.com Magnificent Mile Lights Fest, Thanksgiving Day Parade kick off ... MLive.com, MI -18 hours ago CHICAGO -- With many of Chicago's great holiday events starting the weekend before Thanksgiving, now is not too early to start planning a festive November ... Windy City holidays: Venture into Chicago's River North district - MLive.com MLive.com Windy City holidays: Venture into Chicago's River North district MLive.com, MI -18 hours ago It's a great locale for holiday shopping and entertainment. CHICAGO -- At some point during their holiday shopping on North Michigan Avenue, ... Boom in self-catering holidays as crunch bites - guardian.co.uk Boom in self-catering holidays as crunch bites guardian.co.uk, UK -Oct 11, 2008 'Our members had a cracking summer and the half-term holidays look like being packed as well,' said Jennifer Moffat, secretary of the ASSC and owner of ... Holidays critical to e-commerce sector - United Press International Holidays critical to e-commerce sector United Press International -7 hours ago "This is a pivotal holiday season for eBay," said Jeffrey Lindsay, an analyst with Bernstein Research. "What people fear is that Amazon is basically ... Paddock Pools jumps into the holidays - East Valley Tribune Paddock Pools jumps into the holidays East Valley Tribune, AZ -1 hour ago And the new Paddock enterprise has a supermarket-sized selection of Christmas décor and gifts for them to make the holiday as merry as possible. ... Retailers brace for austere holidays - Rocky Mountain News Telegraph.co.uk Retailers brace for austere holidays Rocky Mountain News, CO -Oct 10, 2008 In response, stores are planning to hire fewer seasonal workers, emphasizing value and rolling out holiday promotions earlier than usual. ... Video: Money Minute: Retail Sales, National Debt, AIGAssociatedPress Consumers Downsize Halloween, Holiday Spending PlansMediaPost Publications all 244 news articles Economy could limit hiring for holidays - phillyBurbs.com Economy could limit hiring for holidays phillyBurbs.com, PA -8 hours ago By JOHN ANASTASI ’Tis the season for retail stores to start staffing up for the holiday gift-buying rush, but a sluggish economy and the specter of another ... More work for bank officers as holidays extend - Express Buzz More work for bank officers as holidays extend Express Buzz, India -33 minutes ago CHENNAI: The last 30 days witnessed an unusual string of holidays. Five declared holidays. Two days of bank strike, one day for half-yearly closing and four ... New website provides a cantor for High Holidays - Ynetnews New website provides a cantor for High Holidays Ynetnews, Israel -13 hours ago Every year before the High Holidays, synagogues all over the world search for cantors who will stand up in front of the congregation and amaze the audience ...