A personalized Christmas ornament is the only gift that gets better every year. You hang it on the tree in year one. In year five, it's part of the ritual — the child who received the "Baby's First Christmas 2024" ornament is now five years old, and hanging it has become part of how your family marks the season. In year twenty, it comes out of the box and sparks a conversation. That arc of meaning is something almost no other gift can create.
Here's what I make for ornaments and how to order in time for the 2025 season.
Baby's First Christmas Ornaments
The most popular ornament I produce. A clear acrylic or Baltic birch round engraved with the baby's name, "First Christmas," and the year — or a combined design with all three elements — is a standard format that looks right on any tree.
Variations I produce regularly:
- Baltic birch round — warm, natural, engraves with a medium-contrast dark mark. Classic and timeless.
- Clear acrylic disc — the frosted engraving on clear acrylic has a lighter, more modern look. Works especially well on trees with silver and white decorations.
- Stocking shape — a birch plywood stocking cutout engraved with the name. Goes on the mantle as a tree ornament or as a standalone piece.
For grandparents who want a matching ornament for their tree: I produce these in sets. The grandparents' version might read "Grandma & Grandpa's First Christmas with [Name] — 2025."
Annual Family Ornaments
Families who collect one ornament per year — marking each Christmas as a document — are a consistent portion of my November orders. The format: a small Baltic birch round or rectangle engraved with "The [Last Name] Family — Christmas 2025." Simple, consistent, and when you're thirty ornaments in, the collection tells the family's story in a way nothing else does.
Custom Name Ornaments
Individual name ornaments — "Sofia," "James," "The Martinez Family" — in a variety of shapes: rounds, rectangles, trees, stars, houses. These are personalized décor that lands more distinctly than anything from a store because no one else has exactly this one.
Popular shapes I cut for ornaments:
- Circles and ovals
- Christmas trees
- Snowflakes (the cutout, not the shape of the blank)
- Houses and cabins
- Deer and woodland shapes
Photo-Engrave Ornaments
For a more complex piece — a hand-drawn portrait, a paw print, a child's actual handwriting engraved on an ornament — photo engraving is possible on Baltic birch. The laser translates a raster image into a dotted or detailed engraved pattern. These take more production time and benefit from higher-quality source images.
Holiday Ordering Timeline
For the 2025 Christmas season:
- Order by November 30: Standard production, ships in time for tree trimming
- Order by December 5: Still possible with standard production
- Order by December 12: Local pickup in Estero only — ground shipping won't arrive in time
- After December 12: Not taking Christmas ornament orders for 2025 — will resume January 2026 for early 2026 orders and personalized gifts
Don't wait until December. Ornament orders stack up in November and the timeline gets tight fast.
Contact me here with the name(s), year, and any specific design notes. I'll send a proof within 24 hours and confirm your timeline.
I'm based in Estero, Florida — local pickup available, or I ship anywhere in the US.