The Cradle of the Ornament
In Chignahuapan, Christmas is blown by hand. Millions of ornaments leave this town's family workshops every year — and here you can watch them being born.
Half a century of blowing Christmas
Don Rafael arrives
Rafael Méndez, a chemical engineer from out of town, opens the town's first ornament workshop. A year later 25 people work with him, and his apprentices carry the craft from house to house.
A town of workshops
The craft becomes a family inheritance. Torches are set up in living rooms and backyards, and Chignahuapan's ornaments start traveling across Mexico.
The International Tree and Ornament Fair
The town celebrates its craft with an international fair: workshops open their doors, there's live glass blowing, and the streets fill with sparkle. This year's dates are in the calendar.
2026 dates, venue and tips for the fair →
The Cradle of the Ornament
More than 400 family workshops produce millions of ornaments a year that reach every corner of Mexico and beyond. Here, the ornament on your tree has a name and a family behind it.
This is how an ornament is born
Scroll slowly: the ornament comes together with you, just like in the workshop.
Glass blowing
A glass tube is heated over the torch until it glows orange. The artisan blows through one end and, spinning it non-stop, inflates a perfect bubble. That's where the size is decided — there's no second try.
The silvering
Inside, the ornament gets a bath of silver nitrate that turns it into a mirror. That's the secret of the shine — without silver, the glass would stay clear and lifeless.
The painting
The ornament is dipped in colored lacquer or hand-painted. The plain dip gives the classics; the brush gives the gradients and marbled pieces that never repeat.
The decorating
Glitter, frost, and a fine brush: every stroke is drawn by hand, ornament by ornament. An experienced decorator turns each piece into a one-of-a-kind miniature.
The packing
Wrapped one by one in paper, the ornaments travel from the family workshop to trees across Mexico — and every box carries half a century of craft inside.
Straight from the workshop, no middlemen
The best ornament is the one you buy from the artisan who blew it. Downtown you will find dozens of workshops and artisan shops open to the public.
High season runs from October to December — most workshops downtown open to the public then, and many let you watch the glass blowing live. Weekdays make for a calmer visit.
Ornament workshops and shops
Chignahuapan businesses that joined chigna.com. We review every listing before publishing it.
The 2025 Tree and Ornament Queen
The heart of the celebration: the crowning of the Queen of the 2025 International Tree and Ornament Fair.