An ornate sterling silver ball from the oldest jeweller in Florence; old Chinese coins that hang on red satin ribbons; and a Hawaiian hula dancer. I'm a rabid collector of unique ornaments, and I would need three good-sized trees to display them all. My unique Christmas ornaments are a gift to myself and to my family, one that keeps on giving.
The collection of unique ornaments started without plan and without my realizing just how crowded it would become. Having some new, plain ornaments for my tree the year my youngest sister went away to college, I dug through ye olde family stuff? box and found an ornament she had made for me when she was in elementary school. This unique ornament consists of braided yarn with a picture of my little sister dangling on the end. I hung it on my tree and still treasure it. (Homely and heartfelt, I really should be certain her son gets it someday!)
One of my most cherished unique ornaments is a soap on a rope? My daughter made in kindergarten: she glued a picture of Santa to it and bedazzled it with green glitter. Every year I inspect it for signs of decay, but ever since I saw that ancient corpse turned to soap on The Learning Channel I have renewed hope that the soap ornament isn't going any place.
The morbid unique ornaments began when my first cat died. I mounted his picture in a craft store frame, and hung it on the tree with decorative ribbon. The twenty or so beloved felines we've buried since have resulted in as many ornaments. The viewing gave visitors the creeps, so I decided to retire them from public display.
We have only one daughter, to whom my husband has erected a shrine on his desk at work. I have my own version of unique ornaments that mark each of her 12 years. One picture per year; some frames engraved and personalized; others improvised but just right for that particular picture. Every year when I hang these most unique Christmas ornaments I reminisce.
The most interesting ornaments to non-family are certainly the travel ornaments, each with a story. (Well, we didn't go to Germany to get a pickle ornament, but I do hang one for the first person awake to find on morning it is good luck for the coming year!) When we went to Sesame place vacations with our toddler, we picked up gaudy Cookie Monster and Elmo characters for the tree. Italy gave me not only my sterling ball, but clay harlequin ornaments from Sienna. Hershey Park, situated in the chocolate capitol of the world, had one, huge silver kiss ornament that I couldn't resist hidden on a gift shop shelf.
(I haven't even mentioned the fruit-themed ornaments or the vintage ornaments.) Unique ornaments are a family tradition that I have started, and I hope it lives ever after with my daughter and future generations.
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