Fortune Tree

Materials
Various small trinkets (at least one per person)
Scraps of wrapping paper or tissue paper
10-inch lengths of ribbon or decorative string

One staple of our city's First Night festivities is a wishing tree, a sculptural form on which passersby are invited to hang their wishes for the future. Our home-based variation lets the tree--your own Christmas tree--do the giving, offering family members tokens that read as fortunes. Gather some small objects that suggest an activity or accomplishment--for example, a shiny coin to symbolize new wealth, a miniature car or plane to signify travel, a kazoo to indicate musical progress, a diminutive football for success in sports. Try to select toys or objects that are in themselves interesting, so no one feels slighted. Wrap each one (including a short written fortune), tie at the top with the ribbon or decorative string, and hang the bundles on the tree's branches. The kids may want to make up fortune-telling packages for the adults, as well, using a different color ribbon to set them apart. Suspense builds until midnight--or some other appointed hour--when everyone plucks a little good fortune from the tree.