Tag Archives: Christmas ornaments

At Random

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If you have a Christmas tree, does it have a random ornament? My tree does. I’m not sure when I got it—perhaps when I was married. I’m not sure exactly where I got it, either, although something tells me it was somewhere in the Pentagon City Mall. Years ago there used to be a shop called The Christmas Store there, so maybe I got it there. It was Christmas year round in that store, although they did sell ornaments commemorating other holidays. Or perhaps I got it at The Nature Company, which was later converted into a Discovery Channel Store, which later closed. It may have been part of a series of ornaments that fit a Nativity scene, but knowing me, I would have gotten any accompanying sheep, too, although nothing else having to do with the Nativity because that’s just never been my thing. So I really can’t tell you why I have this, only that I’m glad I do because it’s just so random in a tree filled with birds, Snoopy, snowmen, angels, and traditional round ornaments, and I like random things.

So here it is: Two dromedaries.

A Christmas ornament featuring two dromedaries.

Also, I don’t think I posted this anywhere last year but it has been sitting on my phone since December 12, 2022, so I’ll post it now. The image is from a Jade Summer coloring book called Intricate Patterns and I colored it using Tombow brush pens.

A mandala.

It took me something like eight hours spread out over three days, as it was the first time I used those brush pens–which also explains what a hot mess it is because Tombow brush pens are kind of big and I had no idea what I was doing or how to use them. I’m not an artist by a long shot.

In fact, I never expected them to be what they are. I had been using a set of no-name dual-tip brush/fine-point markers that I picked up at Barnes & Nobles in 2017 with a gift card from a former boss. I was new to using anything other than Prismacolor pencils and enjoyed using the no-name brand brush markers, which are about the size of a ball-point pen but thinner and more delicate, so when I saw the Tombow set of 96 on sale for half-off on Amazon, I grabbed it, thinking they might be similar. Well, they are a just a wee little bit bigger than the no-name brand. Just a tiny bit. Just a smidge.

Two brush pens, one larger than the other.

In fact, they’re 7.5 inches, which means no man will ever be able to lie to me about that.

And on that tacky note, I will now post the penultimate entry for this year’s Holidailies, heh.

Angelic

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The ornament below is the last of a set that my parents got back in the 1950s. I believe the filaments, called “angel hair,” are spun glass, or at least that’s what a seller on Etsy says about the ones they’re selling.

A Christmas ornament filled with filaments.

I remember being fascinated by these as a child. My parents had them in the round balls like the one above, teardrops, and bells. By the time they had given me what was left of the set when I was in my 20s, there were only three or four left, and the paint worn off or degraded to the point where the plastic underneath was brown and starting to crumble. Not sure how this one survived, but I’m glad I have it. (And yes, that is a flamingo photobombing in the background on the left, heh.)

When my parents gave me this ornament and its remaining companions, one of my sisters once said that they creeped her out, just because of the thought of them being angel hair. This was probably when the first inklings of my future atheism came out because I thought she was daft for even mentioning it or thinking angels were real. At that point I had long since shed any belief in angels of any kind, be they guardian angels, archangels, or fallen angels. The only angels I acknowledge are the human or critter kind here on Earth, the gentle people who seek to help and heal with no reward to themselves and the sweet, innocent birds and animals that seem to have a sense for when humans are in distress and arrive to comfort or assist. But the biblical ones? Right out.

In fact, when I look at modern renderings of biblically accurate angels, I tend to think that Ezekiel and the others who wrote about angels in the Bible were probably on some potent hallucinogenic mushrooms or plants at the time. Have you seen some of the images people have created based on biblical descriptions of angels?

Here’s a Seraphim:

And so much for Cherubim being cute little babies flying around pointing arrows at yer arse to make you fall in love.

Still not nightmarish enough for ya? Try an Ophanim.

Clearly if the ornaments had been made with angel parts, they would not have been made with hair, but with eyeballs.

Which actually would be pretty cool—as long as they didn’t blink.

Myrrhy Christmas!

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Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it!

I’m utterly wiped out, so here are the two commemorative ornaments I bought this year. I bought the first one because Macy’s had a sale for 75% off Christmas decor and I wanted something with the year on it. I’m not wild about it—the perfectionist in me wants a matching one for the other hand so I could hang them side by side in a true pair—but I wasn’t sure if I would find anything else in time.

A Christmas ornament in the shape of a mitten, with the word "joy" and the year 2023.

After I bought the mitten ornament and a few others, plus a star for next year’s tree, I went to CVS to pick up a few things and they had this one. I like it better. It’s more me. But hey, 2023 was extra hard, so why not get two ornaments to add some cheer to the holidays?

A Christmast ornament featuring a snowman and the year 2023.

And now for the final state Christmas tree, Washington. Love the Big Foot near the top! This one goes out to my dear friend Kari and her husband Dave. I “met” Kari through my online private journal 21 years ago, and then we met for real in 2004 when she and Dave rented a place in Manhattan for a month. My ex-hub and I went up to meet them and a few other folks I’ve since fallen out of touch with. Right away I was struck by how much style they both had, and how truly in love with one another they were. I’m SUPER cynical about marriage (my own was limping along at the time and that weekend was the final straw for me in ways I won’t get into here), but those two are just so right for each other.

But beyond that, Kari just gets me in a way only a few other people do. She understands my introvert moments, my ironically ambivalent pride in being a member of Generation X, and my appreciation of a good ghost story. She’s one of those people that you can have an entire conversation with using just quotes from a TV series or a movie (actually, so is Dave), and we’ve had running jokes for years about the weather based on a YouTuber’s famous “It’s Hot As Hell” rant and Cathy Ladman’s Christmas routine about the Three Wise Men. In fact, Kari sent me a little bottle of myrrh that I keep on my desk, along with some peppermint headache balm that I often use on weekdays. So, here’s to the bestest couple ever! I’m due for a visit out your way. Say when.

Washington's state Christmas tree, 2023.
Washington’s state Christmas tree, 2023. Click to embiggen.