--- title: Wreaths, Ornaments, and God’s Gifts description: Hillary Ibarra reflects on creative traditions as a great gift from God that unite us to Him and to our families.  image: https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/20260101%20HIbarra%201.png --- [![catholic-mom-logo-v2](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/images/catholic-mom-logo-v2.svg "catholic-mom-logo-v2")](https://www.catholicmom.com/) [![facebook](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-facebook.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/CatholicMomCommunity) [![twitter](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-twitter.svg)](http://twitter.com/CatholicMomCom) [![instagram](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-instagram.svg)](http://instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) [![youtube](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUqHCVPDzyMgSMaMZxxug?view_as=subscriber) [![search-icon](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/search-icon.svg)](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/wreaths-ornaments-and-gods-gifts#) [PARENTING](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/tag/parenting) # Wreaths, Ornaments, and God’s Gifts Jan 1, 2026 10:00:01 AM  |  by [Hillary Ibarra](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/hillary-ibarra) ![featured image](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/20260101%20HIbarra%201.png) *Hillary Ibarra reflects on creative traditions as a great gift from God that unite us to Him and to our families. * --- The art of making something reminds me of praying the Rosary because the repetition of stitches, patterns, or motions to realize something beautiful calms us and unites us to our Creator. When we share what we’ve handmade with others — a Christmas Season homemade feast, for instance — the blessings increase because we emulate the One Who gives abundantly through His creation.  ## What We Create During this Holy Season Honors Family Traditions  I make wreaths during wintertime because in the winters of my childhood, grapevine wreaths provided for my family. My parents rolled grapevine wreaths to make a living, roaming the Tennessee woods for miles to pull grapevine from the trees. Their wreaths were thick and beautiful. To me they looked perfect, and I still have one of my parents’ wreaths — decades after they stopped rolling them — hanging in my dining room. Grapevine wreaths did not make my family rich, but they provided for us, and they remind me of how God provides for us daily.   I try to keep the tradition of rolling wreaths, and God has blessed me with the natural materials, though I now live in the Southwest hundreds of miles from the Tennessee woods. In Arizona, huge eucalyptus trees shaded our little home and produced fragrant, pliable branches perfect for wreaths. In New Mexico a massive bush dominates our front yard. Young branches shoot out from it, defying its manicured shape. I roll Christmas wreaths from those tender branches and fashion woodsy snowmen with their imperfect but charming circles.   I feel connected to God and to my family through wreath-making.  ![null](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/20260101%20HIbarra%203.png?width=1080&height=1350&name=20260101%20HIbarra%203.png) ## Traditions Increase as Families Unite  Recently, my husband, children and I learned to make old-fashioned ornaments with squares of cloth and Styrofoam balls from my father-in-law. My father-in-law made a collection of ornaments many years ago, and every year they adorn my husband’s parents’ tree. Two of my father-in-law’s ornaments have hung on our Christmas tree for years because they reminded my husband of home. Now, we and our kids make them, too, and give them to loved ones.   As I created imperfect patterns with cloth and admired the patterns my father-in-law, husband, and children made for those ornaments, I realized the biggest blessing of making ornaments together was a family tradition just like rolling wreaths, a tradition that keeps giving because the art of making these ornaments and wreaths harkens back to family and roots and produces something meant to be shared.  This Christmas Season and this new year, I hope you see the great blessings of God in every craft project with your family, every homemade decoration passed down through generations, and in every work of art you, your spouse, or your children create. Throughout this year, in everything we make and share, may we all recognize and cherish the abundant creative gifts our Creator has given to us.  ![null](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/20260101%20HIbarra%202.png?width=1080&height=1350&name=20260101%20HIbarra%202.png) I will rejoice in those gifts as I fashion a homemade cardamom-bread wreath, complete with a hidden baby Jesus, for our Three King’s Day celebration, grateful again for the work of our hands and for family traditions. Happy New Year!  Share your thoughts with the Catholic Mom community! You'll find the comment box below the author's bio and list of recommended articles. --- Copyright 2026 Hillary Ibarra Images: Canva ### Share this article [![Share on Facebook](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/facebook-24x24.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2Fwreaths-ornaments-and-gods-gifts%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook) [![Share on Twitter](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/twitter-24x24.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2Fwreaths-ornaments-and-gods-gifts%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2Fwreaths-ornaments-and-gods-gifts%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&source=tweetbutton&text=Wreaths%2C%20Ornaments%2C%20and%20God%E2%80%99s%20Gifts) [![Share on Email](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/email-24x24.png)](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2Fwreaths-ornaments-and-gods-gifts%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail%20&body=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2Fwreaths-ornaments-and-gods-gifts%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail) ** #### About the Author ![Hillary Ibarra](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/Contriubutors/HILLARY%20IBARRA.jpeg) ### [Hillary Ibarra](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/hillary-ibarra) Hillary Ibarra is a happy wife and mother of four. She is the author of [The Christmas List](https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-List-Girl-Called-Hoodoo/dp/1728828732), based on the miracle of one childhood Christmas Eve, and is a freelance humor writer and copywriter. Jesus, her family, playing guitar, admiring trees, and baking bring her joy. ## Related Blog Articles [ This Year I Thank God for my Four Children Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/this-year-i-thank-god-for-my-four-children) [ Trusting God’s Mercy for the Scrupulous Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/trusting-gods-mercy-for-the-scrupulous) [ God Wraps Us in His Love Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/god-wraps-us-in-his-love) ## Comments ## Donate now [![Support Catholic Mom](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/275132/10016573-1c5c-4aa5-baba-c2ac91fe7545.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/275132/10016573-1c5c-4aa5-baba-c2ac91fe7545) [![CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c (002)](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c%20(002).png?width=1806&height=731&name=CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c%20(002).png "CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c (002)")](https://www.catholicmom.com/) ##### Subscribe to Catholic Momcast on iTunes or Spotify [![itunes-logo-black](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/logos/itunes-logo-black.svg)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catholic-momcast/id1362352357)[![spotify-logo-black](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/logos/spotify-logo-black.svg)](https://open.spotify.com/show/15CoipHL7z61IDcYErV0b8?si=hqaQJSxDQgq7S1hxCwsoxQ) ##### CatholicMom on Social Networks [![facebook](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-facebook.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/CatholicMomCommunity) [![twitter](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-twitter.svg)](http://twitter.com/CatholicMomCom) [![instagram](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-instagram.svg)](http://instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) [![youtube](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUqHCVPDzyMgSMaMZxxug?view_as=subscriber) ##### About Catholic Mom [Who We Are](https://www.catholicmom.com/about-us) [Contact Us](https://www.catholicmom.com/contact) [Support CatholicMom.com](https://www.catholicmom.com/support-us)   ##### Associated Links [Holy Cross Family Ministries](https://www.hcfm.org/) [Family Rosary](https://www.familyrosary.org/) [Family Theater Productions](https://www.familytheater.org/) [Congregation of the Holy Cross](https://www.holycrossusa.org/) [Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C.](https://www.fatherpeyton.org/) [The Peyton Institute for Domestic Church Life](https://www.peytonfamilyinstitute.org/) ### **Stay connected!** Don’t miss a thing! 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