Anybody else here actively look for an annual issue of a specific Christmas tree ornament such as:

Swarovski Crystal
White House
Pier One
Or?

Wife and I have been doing the Swarovski Crystal ornaments and the hand painted ones from Pier One (who just went out of business) for the last seven/ eight years and for the last three years, the White House Historical Society (you can buy them at the Post Office).

Nice thing about Costco, the crystal one is just under $50; downside is, as mentioned, Pier One went out of business this year.

Anyone else (with exception of our Jewish brethren) have an annual collection they add too?

Swarovski large annual star/snowflake since my wife and I got married, 1986. Have a small tree with just these on it.

^^^^
We do that as well since we got married.

We've been doing the Danbury Mint gold ornaments for a few years now. We now decorate a tree in only the gold ornaments.

We’ve also been doing the Swarovski big ornaments, probably 15-16 years now. We used to give the White House ornaments when I worked in DC and got them at a discount, but it’s been 4-5 years since we’ve done that.

My wife always does a Hallmark picture frame ornament for a photo of our current dog, sometimes for a family pic as well. We have a couple of dozen of these by now.

My sister does the Star Trek ornament-of-the-year, pretty much has every year since they started doing them. It's a dead easy gift since they are issued right around her birthday, I don't know if she still has the same interest now that her kids are all grown up.

And here I thought I was the only one that crazy. So yeah, Back in 1971 I bought my wife/us a sterling silver ornament. I continued for a while, like the last 50 years. I always felt bad about not gettin a 1970 ornament. Then I just said the hell with it and bought one off fleabay, for a huge premium. I didn't care, it filled out the set of Gorham Snowflakes.

One year we were going to Colorado or Utah on vacation, I forget. Stopped at the Brass Armadillo in Denver and found another for $17. Those folks aren't as smart as they thought. But over the years we've branched out to other makers. Some at flea markets, wherever we see one "cheap". Sterling Collectables (.com) have about 2 dozen different selections.

We bought Hallmarks for 25 years with the intent of passing them on to our 2 kids. Do you think they want them? Nooo. Oh well

When you all say "large Swarovski", are these the ones about 3.5" across?

My wife baby sat preschool children for over 30 years and most of the children gave her hand made Christmas ornaments she decorates the tree with them even though she stopped sitting over 10 years ago. Sometimes the simple things can be very lmportant.

quote:

Originally posted by 08 Cayenne:
Swarovski large annual star/snowflake since my wife and I got married, 1986. Have a small tree with just these on it.

Same here but since 2008

My wife likes the Lenox ornaments.

I have a handful of unique ornaments for the tree, some are mementoes, others are works of art. After going to Germany 10+ years ago and checking out a German Christmas market, that changed my Christmas tree decorating practices. Since then, traveling to any European country with Germanic influence (Germany, Austria, Chezch, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia,etc..), I've made it a point to pick-up a handful of Christmas ornaments on each trip. Gets pretty competitive over there, as there's the schloky Chinese made crap piled-up at the big stalls, then there's the real-deal, small-town craftsman stuff. Makes for good conversation pieces when guests come over.