Every year the whole family sits down and makes an ornament for the tree. It's a different project every year. The kids really look forward to this. When they strike out on their own, they will get all the ornaments we've made over the years to decorate their own trees with. I have several ornaments I made 35 years ago as a child, I also have 2 ornaments my mom made when she was a child and 2 ornaments my grandmother made, not sure when though. Probably the 50s or 60s.
One year the ornament-making turned into a disaster, but now it's become legend in our family and is one of the best, funniest stories we tell outsiders.