Visiting Kansas City meant we got to see the Hallmark Ornament Trees at the Hallmark Visitor Centre in Kansas City.
Seeing the trees close up meant we could admire the wealth of detail in each tree and I hope you can enjoy some in our post today as we celebrate Thankful Thursday with Brian’s family grateful that we managed to see such gorgeous handiwork. We posted on our visit to Kansas City here too.
- [Check out our Hallmark Christmas tree movie. It is at the top but not everyone sees it there so I will add it at the bottom of the post. It has a vintage-y filter!]
The History of the Hallmark Ornament Trees
Each of these artificial christmas trees was created by the staff at Hallmark for their founder J C Hall. The tradition started with everyone creating a special card and evolved into what is now a magnificent display and the Hallmark Christmas trees are known the world over.
The tree was revealed in the days before Christmas each year, and I bet the excitement was intense. Imagined Mr Hall’s delighted reaction to the unveiling of each year’s tree. For 17 years the tree was a tradition, it only stopped when Mr Hall died in 1982.
This is a christmas tree in ceramic
This tree certainly made a huge impression on me. The work involved is immense and it is truly a labour of love for Mr Hall. How can anything so inventive capture the spirit of Christmas. The magical cookies and angels were breathtaking and I got as close as I could to see the wealth of fine detail. I wish they had a book of photographs of all the details of the trees.
Check out this out this Dough Craft Christmas tree
It is as far away from realistic christmas trees as you can get. This is ‘dough craft’ and wow, just check out the details. Dough is actually a difficult medium to capture details with, but the artists really rocked the medium.
If you look at our recipe at the end of this post you can see what goes into making dough. Then imagine how you might go about creating one figure.
The Schneeberg Collage Tree
This tree is, quite simply, beautiful. It was created by Robert ‘Bob’ Schneeberg for J C Hall. His collages were used on many of Hallmark’s finest greetings cards. It was almost impossible to capture the beauty of this tree, so I went for some of its lovely detail.
The Hallmark Crazy Patchwork Tree
As an enthusiastic but not very good quilter I thought this was the most breathtaking tree. The colours are perfect, the labour involved must have taken forever! Look at the ribbons, the tiny flowers and the little dachshund and the pieces of lace. The more I look, the more I see!
Visiting the Hallmark Visitors Centre
We loved the visit. The centre is not large but captures perfectly the pioneering history of Hallmarks Greeting cards, the exquisite ornaments and the creative artists who design such treasures for the world’s foremost greetings card company.
There is a tiny gift shop with a nicely curated selection of fun mementoes for all ages too. Well worth a peek!
I hope you enjoyed our glimpse into this magical world that Hallmark artists created. I feel so lucky to have been able to visit Kansas City and see it for myself.
Marjorie for the
Dash Kitten Crew
Salt Dough Recipe:
- A basic dough is made from flour, salt and water. Vegetable oil is added as this makes the dough much easier to work.
- Knead for 10 minutes then cut into shapes or whatever your imagination inspires.
- Bake in an oven for C150/F300 for 30 minutes and allow to cool before painting with poster or acrylic paint.
- Varnish if required.
- Children must be supervised for their own safety.
Sweet Purrfections says
at 3:34 pmI wish I could have visited Hallmark. I saw Lisa (who works there) but never thought about asking to visit the location. Such beautiful trees with a lot of history.
Adriana says
at 3:23 amWE love Christmas and this would have been a nice place to visit while in Kansas City. We really din;yt have time but I guess next time this is a must do!
Rachel says
at 1:21 amThis place looks sooo cool! I love Christmas and I would love to visit a place with all of these Christmas trees! Thank you for sharing!
Amelia Johnson says
at 5:00 pmI never knew this place existed or the history behind these Christmas trees…it figures that such creative people would be able to create such beautiful trees. I remember playing with salt dough as a child but can’t remember what we made…lol
Shannon says
at 12:21 pmSuper neat!! I didn’t know about this.. so beautiful. The bow maker was my fav!!
Dash Kitten says
at 5:54 pmMine too. I could have stood there all day but there was a queue!!
Jana Rade says
at 10:31 amWow, those are definitely creative and beautiful. I’m old fashioned that way – I like regular plain ol’ tree.
The Daily Pip says
at 9:49 amGosh, I missed this and wish I had allowed a little more time for exploring Kansas City. I only left the hotel once – note to self, arrive early next year!
I agree with you. Absolutely love the quilted patchwork tree! I do not have any quilting skills, but admire those who do!
Cathy Armato says
at 9:33 amAren’t these beautiful? We loved visiting the Hallmark Center, it’s a very cool place. Great job sharing this beauty with everyone!
Love & Biscuits,
Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
Amy Hempe says
at 8:16 amSo much work went into those crafts! I’m glad you found places to visit this year. Next year you’ll have to compare the Florida beaches to New Zealand’s!
Beth says
at 6:34 amThat must have been so interesting to visit! I give each of my kids an ornament every year on Christmas Eve. I saw a few familiar ones in your video.
Dorothy "FiveSibesMom" says
at 4:01 amI couldn’t wait to read this post when I saw it on the boost!!! I loooove everything about Christmas and Hallmark – from their ornaments to their movies and TV series! You were so lucky to see this in person! How awesome! Thanks for sharing this with us!
Kamira says
at 1:38 amWow. I never knew about the Hallmark Ornament Trees. Thanks for sharing your experience and love the vintage video. Hmm..I think my favorite tree is the cerami and patchwork tree. Amazing detail.
Hindy Pearson says
at 4:22 pmAlthough I had hoped to not hear the “C” word again until at least November, the trees are lovely and seems like an interesting place to visit. My trauma was caused by one of my friend’s over the top shopping that started about 5 months before the holiday…and I seem to have gotten dragged into!!
Ruth Epstein says
at 3:15 pmWhat an amazing place and those trees are just stunning. I might be Jewish but Christmas Trees always so beautiful and these are especially stunning. Thank you so much for sharing this great visit of yours
HollyAnne says
at 1:27 pmSo beautiful- what a great experience. The salt dough recipe gave me a throw back – my kids and I used to make salt dough ornaments every year
Momma Kat and Her Bear Cat says
at 11:42 amWhat original (and incredible) works of art! I had no idea they had these. The salt dough recipe looks familiar … my Mom was a preschool teacher … good memories.
Melissa & Mudpie says
at 10:38 amChristmas in May…I love it! What a pawsome place. This weekend I plan to pick up the new Hallmark Dream Book to see all the new ornaments coming out in July!
Seville at Nerissa's Life says
at 3:35 amHmmm… I wonder if the peep could make a salt dough ornament of me with that recipe. What do you think? You think it might be the best ornament on the tree? purrs
Roby Sweet says
at 11:32 pmI would love to visit there! Hallmark ornaments are some of my favorites.
MrJackFreckles/Pipo/Angel-Minko says
at 5:55 pmWow, that would be a fun place to visit! Beautiful trees!
Ellen Pilch says
at 11:26 amThat looks like a great place to visit. We have several Hallmark ornaments.
Memories of Eric and Flynn says
at 10:38 amThose trees are beautiful! Thanks for sharing them.
Deziz World says
at 9:48 amWell, we’d never heard ’bout the hallmark christmas trees. The video was a bit too dark fur mommy to be able to see. Kittens Those cataracts really mess with your eyes. MOL Glad you had fun. Big hugs
Luv ya’
Dezi and Raena
The Swiss Cats says
at 7:47 amWhat a cool place to visit ! Purrs
Comedy Plus says
at 6:21 amI want to go. What a fun place.
Have a fabulous Thankful Thursday!
Comedy Plus recently posted…Thankful Thursday
Sheltie Times says
at 1:03 amWhat a fun trip.
Laila and Minchie says
at 12:25 amWhat a treat! Thank you so much for sharing as our mum grew up in Kansas City and her uncle worked for Hallmark all his life.
Brian Frum says
at 11:13 pmIt’s so wonderful you got to see all those magical Christmas Trees up close and purrsonal! Thanks for joining the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!
Summer says
at 8:28 pmMy human used to work with salt dough all the time when she was a kid.
ERin the Cat (Princess) says
at 6:40 pmWhat a lovely insight into a wonderful world that maybe we take too much for granted. Lovely artwork and obviously many skilled and passionate people work there.
Toodle pips and purrs
ERin
Lone Star Cats says
at 4:39 pmHow cool! Momma collects Hallmark ornaments.
meowmeowmans says
at 1:40 pmWow, what a neat place to visit! Thank you for sharing that with us, Marjorie!