Ski Chalet Glass Ornament by Cody Foster

A ski chalet in blue glass, built as a little building rather than a symbol, which is what makes it work as a ski ornament instead of a generic snowflake. Glass gives the blue a cold, clean cast that suits the subject, and it holds painted detail on the windows and roofline the way a wooden cabin ornament never quite does. Cody Foster has a whole run of place-based pieces, and this is the one people buy after a season pass, a first trip out west, or a week in a rented cabin they are still thinking about in July. It is the sort of travel ornament that ends up carrying a specific year on the tree. Hang it with the Christmas barn if you are gathering little buildings, or keep it in the mountain corner with anything alpine. A good, quiet gift for the skier who is impossible to shop for.

What are Christmas ornaments made of? Christmas ornaments are most commonly made from blown or molded glass, wood, resin, metal, fabric, or papier-mache, with glass remaining the traditional material for European-style tree ornaments. The material drives both weight and fragility, which is why glass and papier-mache pieces are handled and stored more carefully than resin or wood.