Bluebirds

I probably wouldn’t have a blue penguin Christmas tree if it weren’t for Target. It seems like every couple of years they come out with a series of penguin ornaments featuring blue penguins or blue highlights. (Did I mention that I really love that little blue penguin tree?) The blue pouch ornament could probably be used to hold a gift card or other small gift. I managed to squeeze a 10 percent discount off the papier mâché penguin because it had a little chip off the plastic coating on the brim of his top hat.

Target penguins aren’t exclusively blue. I bought the flat metal ornament the same day I got the blue ones.

Light blue felt bag with red scarf, handle and trim

Acquired: Nov. 22, 2009, Target, Stroudsburg, Pa.

Number: 0736

Size: 5 inches square

Price: $3.99

Blue felt stuffed penguin with red polka dotted scarf

Acquired: Nov. 22, 2009, Target, Stroudsburg, Pa.

Number: 0737

Size: 3.75 inches tall

Price: $1.99

Blue papier mâché penguin with red polka dot scarf, holding upside down top hat

Acquired: Nov. 22, 2009, Target, Stroudsburg, Pa.

Number: 0738

Size: 4.25 inches tall

Price: $2.69 with 10 percent discount

Flat painted metal penguin on skates with corrugated belly and scarf

Acquired: Nov. 22, 2009, Target, Stroudsburg, Pa.

Number: 0739

Size: 6.5 inches tall

Price: $3.99

Ring out the old

“Porter the Penguin” is painted on a little cowbell and is inscribed with the place where I bought it and the year.

Giggle-Lings penguin bell ornament

Acquired: December 20, 2007, Christmas Cottage, New York

Number: 0442

Size: 2.5 inches tall

Price: $9.95

Hey! (repeat verse)

You can keep singing if you want, but these two penguins bring Jingle Bell Week to a close here at My Penguin Tree. They are both enjoying the winter weather in keeping with the mood of the song. One is on skis equipped with toothpick poles, and the other is gliding along on skates. So, jingle bell fans, I’m sure we’ll find a few more ornaments down the road, just not bunched together like we had this week. Today’s penguins represent another milestone in the ornament collection, taking me over the 400 mark. We still have hundreds of penguins to go, so stay tuned.

Round, green and blue penguins on skis and skates with dangling jingle bells by CBOCS, Lebanon, Tenn.

Acquired: Nov. 18, 2007, Cracker Barrel, Fredericksburg, Va.

Number: 0400 0401

Size: 4.5 inches tall

Price: $2.99 each

In a one-horse open sleigh

Ditto from yesterday’s post on the title not matching today’s ornament, but it’s still Jingle Bell Week on My Penguin Tree until we run out of either lyrics or jingle bells or both. Like yesterday’s penguin, these two seem to be attired appropriately for dashing through the snow, and it looks like they’ve just come home from the woods with a freshly cut Christmas tree.  Oddly, one penguin has a normal ceramic body while the other’s body is a red jingle bell.

Stacked up penguins on a jingle bell by CBOCS, Lebanon, Tenn.

Acquired: November 18, 2007, Cracker Barrel, Walterboro, S.C.

Number: 0403

Size: 4.5 inches tall

Price: $1.99

Oh what fun it is to ride

O.K., so the title doesn’t really match the ornament, but it’s Jingle Bell Week and I thought maybe the lyrics would help tie it all together. This jingle bell penguin might actually be suited up for a sleigh ride in his scarf and hat. They did a very nice job on the woven texture in the ceramic top half of the ornament. I found this penguin at a shop very close to where I live called Switzerland Old World Gifts. They have an amazing collection of beer steins, and enough clocks to drive you cuckoo.

Small green jingle bell body with ceramic head by The Boyds Collection, McSherrytown, Pa.

Acquired: November 11, 2007, Switzerland Old World Gifts, Tannersville, Pa.

Number: 0399

Size: 2.5 inches tall

Price: $2.99

Jingle all the way

Jingle Bell Week continues on My Penguin Tree with this crafty penguin whose body is a large, black jingle bell that’s painted white on the his belly.

Large jingle bell body with Christmas tree, Santa hat and candy cane scarf

Acquired: November 11, 2007, A.C. Moore No. 88, Stroudsburg, Pa.

Number: 0398

Size: 4.5 inches tall

Price: $2.99

Jingle bells, jingle bells

It’s Jingle Bell Week on My Penguin Tree. For whatever reason, jingle bells started popping up as a component on the penguin ornaments I was finding during a stretch of time in late 2007. They’re all close enough that I thought I could bunch them together and take care of them in one sweep. These four penguins each have a jingle bell head and a jingle bell body. The two top penguins, that hang as if they were flying, are identical. One of them I bought almost a year later than the other three, and I didn’t realize I was getting a duplicate.

Three jingle bell penguins

Acquired: October 14, 2007, Christmas Past, New Hope, Pa.

Number: 0390 0391 0392

Size: 3 inches tall, {flying) 3.5 inches long

Price: $2.95 each

Flying jingle bell penguin No. 2

Acquired: June 28, 2008, Jim Thorpe, Pa.

Number: 0488

Jingle all the way

The heads and bodies of these three spiffed up dudes are jingle bells. They make a lot of noise and, thanks to the bow ties and top hats, they make a big, colorful splash on the tree.

Three jingle bell penguins

Acquired: November 28, 2006, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0318 0319 0320

Size: 4.5 to 4.75 inches tall

Price: $14.40

On target

So, I’m doing a little Christmas shopping at Target and I wonder if there might be a penguin or two in the decorations department. What I find is not one or two, not even four or six. No, instead there is a wall of blue magic, seven sets of blue ornaments in a variety of shapes and materials, all with the same theme: three penguins with skates, gifts or snowballs. I wasn’t able to find complete sets of all them, but I did walk out with 21 new penguin ornaments, counting the little damaged No. 208 posted yesterday and the large glass mitten, No. 207, posted in January.  My favorites are the two worst photographs: the stars, which look good enough to eat, and the ceramic balls. I think I took those two pictures late in the evening as the sun was setting and casting an orange glow in the house.

Target blue penguin series

Acquired: December 2003, Target, Middletown, N.J.

“2003” single ornament

Number: 0209

Metal buckets (missing snowball penguin)

Numbers: 0210 0211

Size: 6.25 inches tall (gift), 4 inches tall (skates)

Hollow ceramic or painted glass stars

Numbers: 0212 0213 0214

Size: 3.5 inches tall

Felt squares

Numbers: 0215 0216 0217

Size: 4 inches tall

Standing ceramic figurines (missing skater)

Numbers: 0218 0219

Plush stuffed penguins

Numbers: 0220 0221 0222

Size: 5 inches tall (snowball), 6 inches tall (gift) 4.75 inches tall (skates)

Styrofoam round bodies (missing skater)

Numbers: 0223 0224

Ceramic ball ornaments

Numbers: 0225 0226 0227

Size: 2.5 inches diameter

J oy

A stuffed penguin on a wooden block with a metal sled hanging on its shoulder and a sprig of holly on the tip of its wing: put it all together and it spells J-O-Y. This ornament represents the point at which I started keeping track of when I got a new one, where I got it, who gave it to me, etc. This one came from Noël Eternel in Montreal, one of my favorite Christmas shops. Although I started keeping better records with this ornament, I forgot to measure it before packing it after last Christmas, and I didn’t write down the exact date I bought it.

Stuffed penguin with sled on a child’s block that spells joy

Acquired: September 2002, Noël Eternel, Montreal, PQ

Number: 0195

Hollow penguin

I probably should have asked for a discount on this ornament because I knew it was broken when I bought it. It’s a nifty metal design that almost looks like it’s made of barbed wire because of those “buttons” on the front. The hollow frame is supposed to be filled with a clear blown glass bulb, which I saw on a similar snowman ornament. Everything had been picked through at Target as it was almost Christmas and this was the only penguin ornament left. I remember seeing shards of glass at the bottom of the display where I found it. Well, it looks fine without the glass, so I didn’t bother to ask for a damage discount at the checkout. It might have already been marked down for clearance anyway. Still, it would have been nice to get an intact penguin, so ever since I’ve tried to hit the stores early while all the sets are complete and the other penguins aren’t in tatters. (This doesn’t stop me from combing the clearance shelves after Christmas to find any penguins, damaged or not, that have been left behind.)

Wire penguin

Acquired: December 2001, Target, Middletown, N.J.

Number: 0188

Size: about 4 inches tall

Peace

I found this beautiful metal penguin ornament at the UNICEF gift counter in the basement of the United Nations building in New York City. It’s a simple cutout design with a cutout wing and a green finish on the penguin’s back, though it doesn’t show very well in the photo. I have another penguin ornament from the U.N. that you’ll hear about later, but it came from the U.N. gift shop, which is also downstairs near the UNICEF counter. I don’t know why, but penguin ornaments and Christmas cards are scarce at the U.N. gift shop, the UNICEF counter and the larger UNICEF store across the street. I go to the U.N. every year to mail my penguin Christmas cards, where the stamps are usually colorful and often convey a message of world peace. The U.N. operates post offices and issues different versions of its stamps at its facilities in Brussels, Geneva and New York. The rates at the New York office, also downstairs, are the same as the U.S. for domestic and international postage. There’s never a line, even at Christmas time, so I usually make time to visit the gift shops, the bookstore (yes, it’s downstairs too) and then see whatever temporary exhibit is on display in the entrance lobby. One year, a boys’ choir from a British school gave an impromptu concert of Christmas carols in the lobby while I was there. It’s one of my favorite Christmas memories.

Green and gold metal penguin with cutout wing

Acquired: December 2001, UNICEF gift counter, United Nations, New York

Number: 0174

Size: 4.25 inches tall

Keeping warm

I don’t know if a frayed plaid scarf would be enough to keep me warm in the Antarctic winter, but the hearts make me think someone loves this penguin and that ought to help him get through until spring. The body is wood and the wings are metal. After I saw the photo I realized I have some maintenance work to do on the scarf before Christmas.

Acquired: late 1990s, gift from my sister Xena and brother-in-law John

Number: 0132

Size: 5 inches tall

Jeep

When I was a Jeep Wrangler owner, I was one of the happiest people on the planet. Part of this had to do with living in the Rocky Mountains, but the convergence of these two phases of my life made it almost like heaven. So when I saw a Jeep ornament at the Hallmark store, I had to buy it. It was even the right color. And I found a way to include it on the penguin tree. I turned a tiny penguin ornament into a Jeep driver. He’s been smiling ever since.

Hallmark red Jeep Wrangler ornament
Acquired: after 1994
Number: none assigned

Tiny Jeep driver
Acquired:
Number: 0113

I wonder

My first visit to Canada was in 1986 with my mother and my two nieces, Nikki and Lona. We were going by RV across America via Niagara Falls, Chicago, Wisconsin and Mt. Rushmore, then south to New Mexico where we would meet up with my older brother and sister, who were Lona’s father and Nikki’s mother. I picked up a few ornaments along the way, including this one that came from a souvenir shop in Niagara Falls, Ontario. It’s a mystery why I can remember exactly where I got some ornaments, but can’t remember anything about others that I bought a few days earlier or later. Maybe there’s some magic in this one, like the souvenirs in a short-lived TV series called Wonder Falls. If you haven’t seen the show, it’s worth looking for the DVD.

Metal silhouette ornament with crystal star

Acquired: July 29, 1986, Niagara Falls, Ontario

Number: 0050

Size: 4.25 inches tall

Price: 4.59 $CAN

Double duty

The green glittery hat makes this one good for two holidays — Christmas and St. Patrick’s Day. Getting the ornament for less than a dollar is almost as good as finding a pot o’ gold at the end of a rainbow.

Timeless Treasures by Nicole metal penguin with green glittery top hat and wings, big red bow tie and wiry legs

Acquired: Dec. 17, 2009, A.C. Moore crafts store, Stroudsburg, Pa.

Number: 757

Size: about 5 inches tall

Price: 80 cents