I can remember making strings of popcorn for the tree as a kid - it was great fun, but hard to keep from eating all the popcorn. Eileen remembers the felt elves that had floppy hats and arms and legs were sort-of sewn together so you could hang them on the tree. Her mom always liked to have a 'flocked' tree.
I know that my daughter and stepdaughters all have ornaments that they have made as a child that still are hung on the tree. My mom & dad have purchased ornaments for each of the grandkids with have themes that correlate to what was going on in their lives - 1st Christmas, sports they were in, musical instruments, etc.
I asked my mom and dad what they remembered :
Dad said he strung popcorn as a child once. I probably did too, but can't remember. I can't remember as a child our family having any ornaments that were cherished or heirloom, but since my mother did crafts, we probably did make some. However, as I had my own family,we saved the ones that our kids made at school and still have some. I made a lot of Christmas ornaments at school and when I was a scout. I can remember making Santas using toliet paper tubes that were given to the nursing home to put on the patients trays.