BACKSTORY: I was so very happy when I found out how inexpensive felt was. I made these green felt skirts intending to add some rick-rack and felt ornaments, but it seems my ideas always outsize my available time. A little yarn and a single jingle bell for a necklace completed what they thought was the greatest Christmas outfit ever.

All the ornaments on our tree were hand-made from odds and ends we found around the house or cheap craft kits. I recognize every ornament in the photo because they now grace my daughters’ Christmas trees.

There is a richness to life that money can’t buy. You have to make it. When I think of the subsequent Chrismas Eves where our girls unwrapped computers, designer jeans, and game systems, I always think back to the time when they were just as delighted with a tiny bell on a piece of yarn.