The darkest time of the year, not coincidentally, is also the merriest time of year. As the holiday season opens before us, we naturally lean toward all that gleams and glows, hoping perhaps to magnify and absorb the waning sunlight to tide us through until spring.

With a festive mood upon us, what fun it is to sit down with friends or family to craft a few baubles to deck the halls and gild the highest boughs.

Crafting tree decorations brings the kinfolk together to spread glue and take stitches for the common good of the family, binding it together with memories of good times – the very underpinning of tradition.

Surf the Internet for ideas and-or patterns for tree ornaments. Go to your local public library or bookstore to find books that tell how to make ornaments. Or, you might prefer to see what can be invented with materials at hand. Years ago, for example, when one of my sons was an electrical engineering student, he participated in trimming a departmental tree in which scrap wire, computer chips and electrical tape served as basic crafting materials for decorations.

I also remember a year when my sons and I made a long garland for the tree from paper clips. We’re not sure why – except that it was fun. We still have it.

Take a few moments to decide what kind of decorations you want to make. You might prefer items made with natural materials, those made of paper, those made of fabric or those made of beads – or maybe a combination of materials.

Assemble your materials. Spread newspapers on your work surface to keep it safe from glue or paint.

It might be a good idea for one member of the family to make prototype ornaments, then show everyone else, especially the young ones, how to make them.

If paper is your forte and origami is your game, fold paper cranes and other favorite forms. With red thread, tack them to a long length of narrow red satin ribbon. This makes a lovely garland to drape around the tree or to hang over an interior door.

Another easy paper decoration is based on the fan fold. On the fold, draw a half-shape of a snowman wearing a hat. Make sure the snowman’s arm extends to the opposite fold. Then cut along the line you drew, taking care not to cut through the fold where the arm is drawn. When you unfold the paper, you should have a row of three snowmen “holding hands.” Use markers to color the hats black and to add facial features, or to draw a scarf or buttons.

If you or others in your family like hand sewing, make felt ornaments. Place cookie cutters on the felt and trace around them with a marking pen. Cut out two matching shapes and sew them together with basting or overhand stitches. Leave an opening for a bit of fiberfill stuffing and sew closed with running or overhand stitches. Use a paper clip or a loop of thread for a hanger. Decorate the shapes with simple embroidery stitches, glue or sew on sequins, add beads and bits of gold and silver trim available by the yard from fabric stores and departments.

One year I made a menagerie of felt animal ornaments, including a polar bear, a sheep, a beaver and a horse. Another year, my mother made little felt stockings of red and green for her four grandchildren. In each one she placed a minicandy cane and a gift of pocket money.

No matter how you approach crafting tree ornaments, keep in mind that the thing you are really trying to create is much less tangible than an ornament for the tree. You’re creating feelings of family solidarity, love, belonging, happiness and participating in an activity that will prompt you to say next year when you trim the tree, “Remember when we made those … ?”

Visit these Web sites if making felt ornaments interests you: www.diynetwork.com, www.kidsdomain.com, www.funroom.com and www.ehoo.com.

Visit these Web sites if you want to make paper ornaments: www.janbrett.com and www.scissorcraft.com.

Have fun, and let your imagination be your guide.

Call Ardeana Hamlin at 990-8153, or e-mail ahamlin@bangordailynews.net.