It's become a tradition in many families: making new ornaments personalized for each member of the family, including pets, each year. Your tree, then, shows off the many incarnations of your loved ones: From infant to toddler, preteen to adult, wedding to first house and beyond, your tree bears them all. They're the faces of your loved ones, smiling out of their tree-nestled positions to make your day and fill your house with family adoration.

For each of you, your collection of ornaments transports you to holidays of long ago and memories like sugarplums and warm, cozy Christmas magic. "When we grew up, each of the kids in my house were given a pretty box filled with all of our annual DIY Christmas ornaments. We were to keep them tucked away, or put them on display, always reminding us of home," says newlywed Diane Birnes. "My parents kept a few, to have us on their tree, but in time, these sentimental pieces came back to us. Handmade by my mother. A precious gift."

Why do people make their own ornaments when they could easily order professionally made, customized ornaments online or shop in Christmas markets? "There's something charming in less-then-perfect ornaments like Styrofoam balls glued with mini pompoms and your initial, made when a child was in kindergarten," says teacher Maria Stefanotis. "Think about the child at work on it, making a color choice, getting sticky fingers from the glue. That young child held this ornament in her hand, and now you're holding it. In a strange, imaginative way, that little DIY ornament is a connection to the past."

All do-it-yourself ornaments are.

Here are some different types of ornaments to consider for your projects and for crafts your family members can join in on.

*Us Through the Years

-- Birth month flower fabric ornaments. Each loved one gets theirs on the tree; add in pets with their own birth month flowers.

-- State-based geode ornaments. Slivers of geodes shine in their intricate patterns, cut professionally into state shapes. You add the year in glitter glue, everyone's initials on the back of the ornament and a metallic ribbon or string hanger.

-- School crafts. Why not repurpose a macaroni necklace made during arts and crafts in school to be this year's annual Christmas ornament?

-- Draw or computer-print images of your loved ones as they appear right now, new hair color and all, to decoupage onto wood, ceramic, glass or mirror ornaments for an easy project.

-- Milestone ornaments can be plain glass ornaments inscribed with names and the milestone event, such as a wedding anniversary. Use a metallic or colored pen to hand-letter your custom ornament's message.

-- Cutouts. Print out pictures or round up those you have, such as school portraits in wallet sizes. Then glue a picture onto a store-bought photo ornament that you've painted white or another color.

-- Paw Print Your Pet. Use a safe pet paw print kit to capture your furry friend's adorable prints each year.

*Our Travels

Make or buy ornaments from the states, islands, countries, theme parks, state parks and other places you've visited this year. Over time, your personalized collection, with DIY touches like the year or names written in fine-point pen on the back, will tell the story of your world travels. If, like many these past few years, you haven't traveled much lately, celebrate the home you're in with a house-shaped DIY ornament.

*Our Sports, Entertainment and Interests

Share each person's favorite entertainers, such as sports figures and singers. Ornaments from movies like "Star Wars" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas" commemorate family viewing experiences and traditions. If this is the year your daughter fell in love with ice skating, make or decorate some pretty, glittery little ice skate ornaments with her name on them. Bonus points if she's also getting actual ice skates as a Christmas gift this year.

*Symbolic Traditions

"I am kind of a Christmas fanatic and have lots of decorations and craft items," says writer Brette McWhorter Sember. "In our family, the pickle ornament is something the kids have to try to spot first, and the one who does gets a small gift." The tradition of the glass pickle ornament, to be hidden within the branches of the tree for your family to seek out, is a German tradition symbolizing good luck. You'll buy the pickle ornament, of course, but its decorated box or container and colorful ribbons add that personal, crafty touch.

Make or buy to decorate religious or spiritual ornaments to reflect the important place your beliefs hold in your life.

*Our Annual Garlands

String popcorn in lengths to adorn your tree or doorways. Add in dried cranberries to add a little color, but always choose nontoxic items to string on your garlands and keep them high up above kids and pets at all times to avoid injury.

"I've made lots of other Christmas decorations like wreaths (floral, popcorn, ornaments, etc.) and tabletop trees using popcorn, pearls, florals, sheet music," says Sember. "An easy DIY family craft is to print out Christmas sheet music and decoupage it in strips onto foam balls." Each family member chooses their own favorite Christmas song's sheet music. And then the family sings that song when projects are shown to the group later by the fire.

Your favorite craft store stocks easy DIY kits of all types, and the holidays are a time of coupons and savings to make your crafting sessions budget-friendly. And remember that even the crafts that don't come out the way you intended are still so valuable as great stories and lessons for the little ones to just enjoy the process.

A decorated plastic storage tub can hold all your personalized ornaments in one place, with tub dividers used to organize whose ornaments are whose. Each year, the joy and memories of personalized ornaments come forth to add lovely reminiscence to your celebrations.