Culture

Geek the halls with nerdy Christmas ornaments (pictures)

Christmas trees enjoy a little cosplay, too. Deck your holiday pine with ornaments ranging from "Star Trek" ships to entire planets made from glass.

Amanda Kooser

Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.

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Amanda Kooser

Dec. 7, 2014 6:00 a.m. PT

1 of 12 Hallmark

Yoda cosplays as Santa

Christmas trees can be more than just vehicles for strings of lights and anonymous round ornaments. They can help you express your inner geek. All you need are a few well-placed nerdy ornaments to broadcast your "Star Wars," "Star Trek" or science obsessions throughout the holiday season.

Hallmark has been in the business of producing "Star Wars" ornaments since 1996. This Yoda-dressed-as-Santa creation is new for 2014. He even has a little Jedi gift at the ready. "You a merry Christmas I wish. Hmmmm."

2 of 12 Spherical Magic

Saturn puts a planet on your tree

You can shrink down the entire solar system and put it on your Christmas tree with hand-blown art-glass ornaments depicting the planets. This Saturn ornament is particularly ornate, showing delicate rings around the planet. Other favorites like Mars, Jupiter and Uranus are also available. It may not be considered a planet anymore, but you can add Pluto to your glass ornament collection, as well.

3 of 12 Olechka Design

Mario piranha plants don't bite

Etsy is a goldmine for weird and unusual handcrafted geeky ornaments. These piranha plants from Super Mario will turn your tree into a video-game world. Crafted by Olechka Design, they are sculpted from polymer clay. The lashing tongues give each one a lot of personality.

4 of 12 ThinkGeek

DIY 'Doctor Who' Christmas special

"Doctor Who" turns out a Christmas special episode every year, so you might as well get on board and put a little Tardis on your tree. This officially licensed time machine is made from glass. Daleks, a Cyberman head, a sonic screwdriver and the 11th Doctor are also available to complete your collection.

5 of 12 Amanda Kooser/CNET

Romulan Warbird on your tree

This classic "Star Trek" Romulan Warbird ornament dates back to 1995 and is in the personal collection of Crave writer Amanda Kooser. It was made by Hallmark and includes a connection to hook it into a string of lights to make the wings light up. Fortunately, the cloaking device does not work, so the ornament won't get lost on the Christmas tree.

6 of 12 Chris McVeigh

DIY Lego ornaments

Lego designer Chris McVeigh created a series of Lego ornaments that fans can build for themselves. His designs are available for free or you can purchase kits containing everything you need to make your own ball-style or lantern-style ornament to spruce up your tree in geeky style.

7 of 12 ThinkGeek

Have a Browncoat Christmas

You can have a little Serenity around the holidays with this ornament representation of the ship from "Firefly." It's official merchandise and comes off as quite a bit shinier than the spaceship in the series. The good news is you won't have to repair the engine or dodge Reavers.

8 of 12 Aura

Light your tree wirelessly

You can't get much nerdier than wirelessly powered Christmas tree lights. Aura is a project raising funds on Kickstarter with the goal of producing a set of lights that won't drive you nuts with getting all tangled up. Each LED light looks like a spherical ornament and is powered by a ring that sits under the tree. This image shows a prototype version of Aura glowing.

9 of 12 ThinkGeek

Retro gaming controllers on your tree

Give your Mario piranha plant ornaments some suitable company with a set of four retro gaming controllers. The set includes controllers for PlayStation, NES, Sega and Atari. Made from resin, these ornaments will inspire you to get back into those old video games you used to love.

10 of 12 Hallmark

'No Kill I,' the ornament

It may look like a giant, inside-out calzone, but the Horta is one of the more memorable classic "Star Trek" creatures. This 2014 ornament from Hallmark commemorates the episode "The Devil in the Dark." It shows Spock getting his mind-meld on with the misunderstood beast. Pressing a button on the ornament plays dialogue from the scene.

11 of 12 Lego

Build your own Lego ornament

Lego's seasonal Christmas snow hut ornament is popular enough to be sold out at Lego's online store. The ornament comes in a globe that can be pulled apart to reveal the pieces inside. Put them together to create a little cabin in the snow to hang on your tree.

12 of 12 Amanda Kooser/CNET

Klingon Bird-of-Prey ornament

This Hallmark Klingon Bird-of-Prey ornament dates to 1994. A small light in the front glows when plugged into a string of Christmas lights. From the personal collection of Crave writer Amanda Kooser, this ornament has held up well over the years.