Christmas Ornament

I must be getting older, or at least certainly more nostalgic, because as Anne was bringing out the Christmas ornaments earlier this week, and our tree slowly began to take holiday form, the ornaments that have appeared on the tree brought warm memories to my heart. In our home, it is a holiday tradition for family members to gift one another with special ornaments each year, especially those that serve as representations and reminders of personal hobbies and interests. Last year, I gave Anne one such ornament, a simple three dimensional representation of a bird feeder, with chickadees and gold finches.

Oddly, I had not realized that this particular ornament was actually the third in a series of "Nature's Sketchbook" ornaments by Hallmark. This Hallmark Keepsake Ornament,"Chickadees and Gold Finches," was part of the 2005 releases and was designed by Marjolein Bastin. In the past few days I have been looking for the 2006 follow-up, a bird house with cardinals, but no such luck... it's already sold-out in stores and on-line! Of course you never know what boxes are hiding in the back of shelves, so I'll keep looking!