Small wonder

The penguins came in all sizes at Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland. You can get an idea how tiny this ornament is by looking at how big its hanging loop seems.

Tiny glass glittery penguin

Acquired: September 23, 2011, Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, Frankenmuth, Mich.

Number: 0958

Size: 2.25 inches tall

Price: $4.99

Happy feet too

Here’s a penguin that’s ready to dance its way into the holiday season with wings stretched out for balance and right foot taking that first step. I remember it took some time trying to choose this one with everything just right from all the others like it.

Glittery, dancing glass penguin with attached outstretched arms

Acquired: September 23, 2011, Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, Frankenmuth, Mich.

Number: 0957

Size: 3 inches tall

Price: $17.99

Lost and found

Before I post each ornament on the blog, I put all its information on an index card. It’s the ultimate backup system and the only place the information exists between buying ornaments and recording them on the blog. So I had a little panic tonight when I couldn’t find my mini-pack of cards for this year’s new ornaments. About half of them are already posted, but another 50 are in limbo. It would have taken days to dig up receipts and tags to reconstruct the missing cards. At the same time, I was missing a turquoise ring that I’ve worn every day for 30 years. It’s a souvenir I bought in Bernalillo, N.M., when I first visited my Uncle Lee and Aunt Lillian who lived nearby. It was Aunt Lillian who taught me the rhyming prayer “St. Anthony, St. Anthony, please come around, something is lost and cannot be found.” So I went to her and him for help and moments later spotted the ring half buried in the carpet in my TV room. Then I found the index cards where they had fallen to the floor through my spiral staircase when I was carrying a pile of things upstairs. I’m still missing the receipt from my shopping spree at Bronner’s, where I found today’s ornament in the bargain area. Two out of three is an excellent record however, so thank you, Aunt Lillian, and thank you, St. Anthony.

Dressed up glass couple in red top hat, green vest and black jacket, and pink hat and necklace

Acquired: September 23, 2011, Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, Frankenmuth, Mich.

Number: 0956

Size: 4.5 inches tall

Price: $4.98 (originally $7.99)

What a catch

If this had been the only ornament I found at Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, it would have made the trip worthwhile. I think that’s all I have to say.

Precious Moments porcelain bisque “Catch the Spirit of Christmas” 2011 penguin in pink hat fishing for present with candy cane pole

Acquired: September 23, 2011, Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, Frankenmuth, Mich.

Number: 0954

Size: 3 inches tall

Price: $22.50

A dash of flash

Looks like another penguin making a snowman, but this globe flashes with a red light when it’s switched on and it comes with a built in holiday message.

Stony Creek Seasons Greetings tall, red-flashing globe with little penguin, snowman and tree

Acquired: September 23, 2011, Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, Frankenmuth, Mich.

Number: 0953

Size: 3 inches tall

Price: $8.99

A thousand penguins

Here they are, penguin ornaments No. 999 and No. 1000. I don’t know which one is which, and I don’t care, because it would be impossible to pick one over the other.  I almost reached the big milestone a few days ago when I saw these very ornaments on a charity tree at my local Target store. I even asked the staff if they had any more for sale, but we couldn’t find any. So today I stopped in another Target on my way to the Peace Candle lighting in Easton, Pa., where there was a bin full of them.

Two plastic ball heads with top hats and bow ties
Acquired: November 25, 2011, Target, Lower Nazareth, Pa.

Number: 0999 1000

Size: 4 inches tall

Price: $2 each

Crazy for candy canes

I’m almost certain I have enough penguins with candy canes to put together a themed tree around them and these three will stand out from the rest. Even if the low number shown in my blog index is correct, I should have enough other candy and sweets ornaments to fill out the tree. I’ll have a blue tree again this year and a wooden tree. Maybe I’ll redo the winter sports tree from last year’s Festival of Trees. A sweet tree would be . . . well . . . sweet. I’ve already stocked up on candy canes for all the trees, including blue ones for the blue tree. The others have traditional red stripes, red and green stripes, rainbow stripes and stripes that kind of look like they belong on a necktie. I still need a box of those yummy chocolate mint canes that Hershey makes for the wood tree.

Blossom Bucket rustic candy cane trio

Acquired: September 23, 2011, Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, Frankenmuth, Mich.

Number: 0950 0951 0952

Size: 2.5 to 3.5 inches tall and wide

Price: $4.99 each

Small things, nice package

Nice things come in small packages, but this time it works the other way around too. I like the package on this set of penguins almost as much as the tiny glass ornaments. I don’t know how they attached the little penguins on the card however, because it was very difficult to get them off. I was afraid I might crush them if I pulled to hard. Although the set includes six penguins, there are only three designs: two with Christmas trees (top and bottom middle), two with candy canes (middle right and bottom left) and two with what looks like a pickle.

Krebs International set of six glass ornaments

Acquired: September 23, 2011, Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, Frankenmuth, Mich.

Number: 00944 0945 0946 0947 0948 0949

Size: 1.75 inches tall

Price: $8.99/set

Bubble bauble

This clear glass ball looks as delicate as a soap bubble and it features an unusual design. The bottom is pushed up to form a small dome inside. The scene is painted in reverse so it looks like it’s in the ornament.

Indented glass ball with two painted penguins and igloo

Acquired: September 23, 2011, Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, Frankenmuth, Mich.

Number: 0943

Size:4 inches in diameter

Price: $11.99

Funny foursome

Here are four very different little glass penguins in a set: Red and white striped scarf with green package, earmuffs with red coat and green scarf, Santa hat and gold scarf, and purple hat and coat. I didn’t realize what characters these guys were until I saw the photo close up. The expression on the purple one cracks me up. You have to click on the photo to see. They’re going to look good on the mini-tree I’m planning this year.

Miniature glass penguins

Acquired: September 23, 2011, Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, Frankenmuth, Mich.

Number: 0939 0940 0941 0942

Size: 2.25 inches tall

Price: $11.99/set of 4

Penguin tree season is on

Here’s one of several ornaments I found in the clearance section of Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland. I used it today to try out my idea for this year’s Festival of Trees at the Electric City Trolley Museum in Scranton. I just found out that the theme this year is “The Art of the Tree.” I’m going to find all the ornaments attributed to actual artists and mount them inside empty frames. I’m thinking of calling it “Antarctic Art Gallery” or “Penguins at an Exhibition” or both. This ornament (which may or may not be a duplicate) will not be on the tree, but it was near at hand for the dry run.

I haven’t unpacked any ornaments yet, but I have unpacked two trees, including the new tall tree I want to use at the museum. Meanwhile, all the new ornaments (more coming in almost every day now) are hanging on a little metal rotating tree that I also found at Bronner’s. I’m planning to fill it with miniature ornaments, but this is what it looks like with 60-odd haphazard ornaments of all sizes and shapes.

Glass family of three penguins

Acquired: September 23, 2011, Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, Frankenmuth, Mich.

Number: 0955

Size: 4.75 inches tall

Price: $4.98 (originally $7.99)

Oopsy

This was a set of four ornaments, but I broke one barely out of the box. I was trying to set it up for a picture when it slipped out of my hand and shattered to pieces. This has happened before, but in this case I still have three ornaments left. Like the blue painted penguin balls from yesterday’s post, this set had two frosty and two shiny ornaments. Now it only has one shiny ball. I don’t assign the broken ornament a number, because it never made it onto a tree.

Three red glass balls with penguin in stocking cap

Acquired: September 23, 2011, Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, Frankenmuth, Mich.

Number: 0936 0937 0938

Size: 2.5 inches in diameter

Price: $7.99/set of 4 (one broken while unpacking)

The Bronner’s bonanza

For the next couple of weeks, I’ll be displaying the haul of penguin ornaments that I bought at Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland on my trip home from Chicago in September. You can read more about Bronner’s here and see a few pictures. You really have to visit yourself for the full experience. It’s the world’s largest Christmas store, with wall-to-wall decorations in five football fields of space. These two sets of glass ball ornaments are a good way to start. I only photographed one of the four clear balls, but you can see most of the painted scene on the blue ones. The clear set has four identical balls and the blue set has two frosty and two shiny ornaments.

Penguins on ice, white on clear glass balls

Acquired: September 23, 2011, Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, Frankenmuth, Mich.

Number: 0928 0929 0930 0931

Size: 2.5 inches in diameter

Price: $6.99/set of 4

Penguins on ice, white on blue glass balls

Acquired: September 23, 2011, Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, Frankenmuth, Mich.

Number: 0932 0933 0934 0935

Size: 2.5 inches in diameter

Price: $6.99/set of 4

Happy Feet Two

The animated sequel with Mumble and his son Erik arrives in theaters tomorrow. Anyone staying up tonight for the first show just after midnight?

Hallmark Keepsake “Happy Heroes, Happy Feet Two,” Tammy Haddix, artist

Acquired: November 4, 2011, Jill’s Hallmark, Brodheadsville, Pa.

Number: 0972

Size: 3,25 inches tall

Price: $14.95

Aquarium emporiums

On my visit to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago last September, I went into three different shops, one of them twice, or maybe there were only two shops and I hit one of them three times. Each time I found penguin items that I missed on the earlier visits. I ended up with a penguin cooking spoon rest, a penguin t-shirt, penguin shorts and three penguin Christmas tree ornaments. Check out the other two ornaments in the last two older posts in case you missed them. This one wasn’t unique to the aquarium or marked with the Shedd name in any way. I was surprised to find a Merck penguin that I didn’t already own, because I see them a lot and try to keep up with the new ones as they come out. They are escellent ornaments, usually small, but decorated nicely with an old-fashioned look. My labels list indicates I only have three Mercks, but I’m pretty sure it’s a lot more than that.

Merck Family Old World Christmas glass Playful Penguin with red Santa hat and glittery green scarf

Acquired: September 20, 2011, Shedd Aquarium, Chicago

Number: 0927

Size:2.5 inches tall

Price: $9.99

Looks familiar

I knew this ornament looked familiar, but I also knew that I didn’t have a snow globe from the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Sure enough, here’s the same ornament from the Central Park Zoo, a gift from my good friend Anne, who has a few snow globes of her own. As I’ve said before, I don’t mind having duplicates, especially when they remind me of good friends and fun places. I wouldn’t mind having one of these from every zoo and aquarium in the world.

29 Tonight snow globe ornament, Shedd Aquarium Chicago

Acquired: September 20, 2011

Number: 0926

Size: 2.25 inches tall

Price: $9.99

Seeing penguins

On a recent trip to Chicago, I visited the Shedd Aquarium. Click here for a gallery of photos. It looked like I was going to miss the penguins because the exhibit was closed, but they came back right before I left. I also came out with a couple of bags full of penguin junk, including some cool ornaments. I like this kind of ornament that says where it came from and doubles as a souvenir of the place where I got it. I also like it because it's going to look good on the blue penguin tree.

Shedd Aquarium ornament

Acquired: September 20, 2011, Chicago, Ill.

Number: 0925

Size: 4 inches in diameter

Price: $9.99

Late to the peppermint party

Here’s how bad I am. I was riding in the backseat and gave my niece and her boyfriend driving directions that would “accidentally” take us by the Christmas Factory not far from where I live. They had some penguin ornaments, but this is the only one I could find that I didn’t already own. It was in a basket with a bunch of other broken up ornaments, two of which (a chef and a hot chocolate drinker) I had bought three years ago, also at the Christmas Factory. I dug through the basket looking for an ornament that wasn’t broken, but this was the only one on candy cane skates holding a couple of candy cane sticks, obviously broken. At the bottom of the basket I found a bunch of broken off penguin feet and other pieces, including one piece that looked like a pinwheel. I decided to buy the broken ornament and the loose piece and glue them together when I got home. I thought it would fit better than, but as I’m writing this post, I’m realizing that I glued it on the wrong end. It’s supposed to be a ski pole, not a pinwheel. It’s too late for me to fix it now, but I’ll get to it later and post an update.

Candy cane skier

Acquired: September 3, 2011, The Christmas Factory, Marshall’s Creek, Pa.

Number: 0924 (matches 0476 and 0477)

Size: 4.5 inches tall

Price: $4.99, but reduced because it was broken

Cool Yule

Penguins sing and sway, music plays and lights flash on their icy stage in this over-the-top ornament from Hallmark.

Hallmark Keepsake “Jingle Bell Blues” magic light, sound and music ornament, Sharon Visher, artist

Acquired: July 24, 2011, Jill’s Hallmark, Easton, Pa.

Number: 0923

Size: 4.25 inches wide, 3.5 inches tall

Price: $34.95

Fire and nice

These three little penguins have appeared in a number of scenes from Hallmark, and they’re back this year gathered around a fire toasting marshmallows and sipping hot chocolate. Not an official series, but it’s good to see these guys return year after year.

Hallmark Keepsake “Friends of a Feather,” Kristin Gaughran, artist

Acquired: July 24, 2011, Jill’s Hallmark, Easton, Pa.

Number: 0922

Size: 2.5 inches wide, 1.5 inches tall

Price: $14.95

A Pointer Sisters Christmas

OK, so I like the Pointer Sisters a lot, but I never expected them to show up on a Christmas tree ornament. This little penguin is “so excited” on Christmas Eve that he can’t get the trio’s song out of his head. It’s a good thing the Pointers are on my favorites list, because I have a feeling I’ll be singing along with them on Christmas Eve.

Hallmark Keepsake “I’m So Excited” Magic musical ornament, Bob Kolar, artist

Acquired: July 24, 2011, Jill’s Hallmark, Easton, Pa.

Number: 0921

Size: 3.25 inches tall

Price: $17.95

Photo op

Hallmark introduced another year’s worth of Keepsake ornaments last summer, including several with penguins. Leading off the lineup are Snowball and Tuxedo, the familiar but unlikely pals from opposite poles. Click here for more about this excellent ornament series, now in its eleventh year.

Hallmark Keepsake “Snap Happy Friends,” Snowball and Tuxedo series No. 11, Joanne Eschrich, artist

Acquired: July 24, 2011, Jill’s Hallmark, Easton, Pa.

Number: 0920

Size: 2.5 inches tall

Price: $12.95

The “Jingle Bells” problem

I recently found out there’s a difference of opinion over the meaning of the first line of the song “Jingle Bells,” which is not the original title by the way. Are we describing the kind of bells when we sing the song, or are we telling the bells what to do? The second line leaves no room for interpretation. We want those bells to “jingle all the way.” I don’t care either way, but I am facing a jingle bell decision of my own. Do I have enough jingle bell penguin ornaments for a whole tree? Maybe there are enough for a small one. Imagine what it will sound like when you shake it.

Two TJ’s Christmas elongated jingle bells, one with white belly and Santa hat, the other with silver belly and tree hat

Acquired: June 30, 2011, Trinkets & Treasures, Durango, Col.

Number: 0918 0919

Size: 3 and 3.5 inches tall

Price: $6.95 each

Piggyback rider

I was beginning to think my penguin collecting days were over. The year was half gone and I only had a handful of new ornaments. Then I found these sledders that look like they’re carved in wood. The ornament is actually some kind of plaster with metal runners on the sled. It was a welcome sight and a long overdue addition to My Penguin Tree.

TJ's Christmas penguin parent and piggybacking chick on a sled

Acquired: June 30, 2011, Trinkets & Treasures, Durango, Col.

Number: 0917

Size: 4 inches long

Price: $9.95

Quality, not quantity

I would have thought a store called The Christmas Attic in a place like historic Alexandria, Va., might yield a lot of penguin Christmas tree ornaments, but that wasn’t the case. They did have a couple of beautiful Christopher Radko penguins, so I splurged. Don’t you wish that blue gift on the right has your name on it? I’ve since found out that Radko has about 15 other penguin ornaments in their 2011 collection. That means my wallet could be in trouble.

Christopher Radko “Penguin Portait”

Acquired: June 18, 2011, The Christmas Attic, Alexandria, Va.

Number: 0916

Size: 5.5 inches tall

Price: $39

His Majesty

Rich color and sparkling details aren’t the only features that make this Christopher Radko penguin stand out. It’s a big ornament, giving it a stature worthy of its regal name.

Christopher Radko “Gift Giving Emperor”

Acquired: June 18, 2011, The Christmas Attic, Alexandria, Va.

Number: 0915

Size: 7.5 inches tall

Price: $65

Feeling lucky

Hallmark sent me a coupon to use on their big Holiday Open House that started today. You had to spend $50 in order to redeem it, but that’s not hard for me when it comes to penguin ornaments. There were a couple of Keepsake ornaments that I needed and I found some other ornaments to bring the total to just a few dollars short. Well, Hallmark also introduced a mystery ornament this year, a plain box that contained one of three different designs — a penguin, a Santa or a Hawaiian. There's no way to know which one you buy until after you pay for it. I really wanted the penguin, but I wasn’t going to play that game. Maybe I’d wait until the after holiday sales or look for one online instead. But because I needed to spend a little more to hit $50, I said, “Let me have a mystery box.” The clerk put about six boxes on the counter and said, “Pick on.” I gave it my best shot and grabbed one in the middle of the pack. You can see by the picture how this turned out. I got the penguin. Oh, yeah.

Hallmark Keepsake Frosty mystery penguin

Acquired: November 4, 2011, Jill’s Hallmark, Brodheadsville, Pa.

Number: unassigned, but closing in on a thousand

Size: 3 inches tall

Price: $9.95