Four heads are better than one

This set of felt penguin ornaments was a nice gift from my niece. At first I thought they were coasters, but I was just as happy to find out I had four new penguin ornaments. When I went to measure these for the record during packing, I couoldn’t find them. I remembered putting them in their plastic box, but I didn’t remember what happened to them after that. Finally, they turned up last night, but now I’m looking for my own head. Jeez.

Holiday Passport World of Gifts, World Market, made especially for CostPlus, four coaster-like felt penguin heads

Acquired: October 23, 2010

Number: 0816 0817 0818 0819

Size: 3.5 inches diameter

Gift from my niece Becky Parsons

Another one

As I was getting this post ready, I was certain that I had already written about this penguin. I didn’t have to look very far to find three similar ornaments that I posted on January 1. This one isn’t a perfect match, but it’s more alike than not. My guess is that they all came out of the same factory in China.

Felt penguin with red scarf and hat with gold bow

Acquired: December 9, 2009, Duane Read drug store, Port Authority Bus Terminal, New York

Number: 0749

Size: 5 inches tall

Price: $1.99

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

Penguin Summer: Chincoteague

We were falling a little behind schedule again, partly because of my penguin ornament shopping, but we made sure to stop at Kitty Hawk where the Wright brothers made their historic flights. We were supposed to make it to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware that night, but it was clear we wouldn’t make it. Our plan B was to get to Chincoteague. The RV campground directory I had bought came in handy for us to find a place and call ahead. That gave us time to stop for dinner at a homey diner a few hours away. During our meal, the waitress asked us where we were from, where we were heading, etc. When we said we were going to stop in Chincoteague, she said, “You’re lucky, tomorrow is the pony swim.” Without even planning it, we were going to be in Chincoteague for the annual wild pony roundup and swim across the channel from Assateague Island. We even found out our campground had a front row view of the swim and the parade to the fairgrounds where the ponies would be auctioned. I even found a penguin ornament, one that matched a pair that I had bought a few days before in Hershey, Pa.

Small felt penguin with red ear muffs

Acquired: July 29, 2009, The Brant, Chincoteague, Va.

Number: 0684

Size: 4.75 inches tall

Two small felt penguins with flat orange beaks and green hats

Acquired: July 24, 2009, Incredible Christmas, Hershey Park, Pa.

Number: 0674 0675

Size: 5 inches tall

Price: $3.99 each

Happy birthday

This penguin was a decorative tag on a Christmas present from my sister Gale, a set of handmade penguin placemats and table runner. Well, today is her birthday, so this post is for her. Happy Birthday, Gale! Love you.

Felt gift decoration

Acquired: December 15, 2010

Number: 0578

Size: 4.25 inches tall

Dollface

For more than 75 years Annalee felt dolls from Meridith, N.H., have been brightening people’s lives and holidays with their distinctive silkscreened smiling faces. An internal wire frame developed by Chip Thorndike, Annalee’s husband, gives the dolls a lively playfulness. Annalee also makes Christmas tree ornaments, including a number of penguin designs. This is my only Annalee ornament, but I wouldn’t mind having some of their penguins from other years.

Annalee penguin with candy cane North Pole sign

Acquired: November 2, 2008, American Candle Factory, Bartonsville, Pa.

Number: 0548

Size: 4.75 inches tall

Price: $16

Bells and buttons

These three stuffed, felt penguins win the prize for most creative use of jingle bells on a Christmas tree ornament. They’re all bundled up in their plaid scarves and each has three jingle bell buttons on an imaginary vest. I was with my friend and colleague Matt Tanzer in Texas when I found these penguins. I was short on cash, so he generously bought them for me. The photo makes them look like they are different sizes, but they are all the same.

Three felt penguins with plaid scarves and jingle bell buttons

Acquired: September 24, 2008, Christmas Garage, Arlington, Texas

Number: 0494 0495 0496

Size: 5 inches tall

Price: $2.99 each

Fifth wheel

There are five penguins here, but only four variations. That’s because I bought one of the duplicates by itself on one trip to the Christmas Factory and then bought the others about six months later at the same store. It’s always nice to have a spare.

Five Mission Gallery stuffed penguins with brown and red stocking caps and earmuffs

Acquired: January 9 (0450) and June 7, 2008, Christmas Factory, Marshall’s Creek, Pa.

Number: 0450 0482 0483 0484 0485

Size: 4 to 5 inches tall

Price: $2.99 each (No. 0450, $2.24, 25 percent off)

Reduce, reuse and recycle

When your refrigerator light bulb burns out you can always find a way to put it to another use. All it takes is a little paint and a glittery felt hat to turn somebody’s trash into somebody else’s Christmas ornament. My sister Gale found this for me a bazaar at her New Horizons United Methodist Church in Southwest Ranches, Fla.

Recycled refrigerator light bulb ornament

Acquired: December 21, 2007

Number: 0444

Size: 3.25 inches tall

Bewitching stitching

The needlework on this penguin makes it one of my favorite ornaments. I’ve found some beautiful ornaments at the annual holiday market in New York’s Bryant Park.

Stuffed felt penguin with nice embroidery and holly-trimmed hat

Acquired: December 7, 2007, Jesterbal, Bryant Park, New York City

Number: 0436

Size: 7 inches tall

Price: $18

Sad sack

I’m a sucker for long-faced penguins like this one. He looks like he doesn’t have a friend in the world or a penny to pinch. All he has is a little blue Christmas light bulb (probably burnt out) tied to a loop of silvery string. The label on this one said it came from a company called Merry, Merry Simply Christmas.

Sad felt penguin with Christmas light on a string, Santa hat and purple scarf

Acquired: Nov. 21, 2007, Sears Volusia Mall, Daytona Beach, Fla.

Number: 0411

Size: 6 inches tall

Price: $2.99

Felt brigade

Here are some sets of felt penguins from different places that are all the creation of Hannah’s Handiworks. The four colorful penguins came from Christmas Cottage in midtown Manhattan. I found the beige set at Christmas Past in New Hope, Pa. The beige penguins have a unique feature. They can be squished or stretched to be different heights. I’d love to see what’s going on inside, some kind of spring mechanism that sticks when you stretch or squash the penguins.

Hannah’s Handiworks felt penguin heads and full-body penguins with red and green knit scarves and hats, made in China

Acquired: July 21, 2007, Christmas Cottage, New York

Numbers: 0358 0359 0360 0361

Size: 8 to 10 inches tall

Price: $9.95 each

Hannah’s Handiworks beige felt stretchy penguins, made in China

Acquired: January or February 2009

Numbers: 0617 0618

Size: 10 inches tall

Price: $4.50 each

Star button

This felt penguin with a plaid scarf and buttoned on star plays “Jingle Bells.” I must have been on the way back to work from my annual card-mailing expedition to the United Nations. I would walk to Grand Central Terminal to get the Times Square shuttle train and that would take me by Papyrus, the store where I found this ornament. I think the penguin is holding a Christmas stocking on its left wing.

Felt musical penguin that plays “Jingle Bells” with plaid scarf and buttoned on star

Acquired: December 8, 2006, Papyrus, Grand Central Terminal, New York

Number: 0352

Size: 5.5 inches tall

Price: $6.95

Bad hair day

Are penguins cute because they’re funny or are they funny because they are cute? Maybe it depends on the penguin. This one has funny “hair,” funny eyes, a funny beak and a funny body. Even the star badge on the plaid scarf is funny. Add all that funniness together and you come up with a whole lot of cute.

Funny felt penguin with fuzzy “hair” feathers, plaid scarf and gold star badge

Acquired: December 2003, gift from brother Drew and sister-in-law Sandy and my nieces, Becky and Jenny.

Number: 229

Size: 5.25 inches tall

Long way from home

I don’t know if the North Pole sign means this penguin is already there or trying to hitch a ride there for Christmas. Either way, it’s a long way from home for this Antarctic resident.

Flat felt penguin with North Pole sign

Acquired: unknown

Number: 0131

Size: 5.5 inches tall

Where was my head?

I can't believe I forgot to post again yesterday. It was about 2 in the morning when I realized that I hadn't fulfilled my daily penguin obligation. This crafty felt penguin head should have reminded me to use my head. I believe my brother's family found it at a craft fair or church bazaar.

Felt penguin head

Acquired: Acquired: 1980s, gift from Drew, Sandy, Becky and Jenny Parsons

Number: 071

Size: 3 inches tall

Flower power

This smartly attired penguin is made of three puffy black balls trimmed with pieces of felt for the wings, feet, stomach, beak and that white top hat. A bent pipe cleaner is his cane. While not technically a Christmas ornament, it had a string attached and it seemed only natural to hang it on the tree. He came to me on a flower arrangement, I think from my sister Gale, possibly for my birthday, or for a new job, or as a get well gift. It’s hard to remember, because I grew up in a family of florists, and flowers showed up all the time and for all occasions. I spent a lot of time in flower shops doing various odd jobs, including delivery and bookkeeping. All flower shops smell the same and any time I walk into one it brings back good memories. Just like this ornament does.

Puff ball penguin with felt accents

Acquired: 1980s

Number: 0045

Size: 4.5 inches tall

Alice Springs angel

Who says penguins can’t fly? Not the Australians. It took me years to find my first penguin angel, but in one short visit to Australia, I found two. This one is from the Outcrop Shop, a gift store in downtown Alice Springs, one of the most unlikely places I’ve ever been. I never would have expected to find such an unusual and fantastic penguin ornament in such a faraway place, even though Christmas was not far off. Look on a map and you’ll see that Alice Springs is about as far away from anywhere as you can get. They even have a post in town with arrowed signs pointing in all directions: Chicago 15,749 km, Johannesburg 10,308 km, Rome 14,281 km, etc. The only reason I was there is because it was somewhat close to Uluru, the mystical monolith in Australia’s Red Center formerly known as Ayres Rock, and I thought I ought to stop by for a look. I’m glad I did.

It was Thanksgiving, which is not a holiday in Australia, and I was feeling a tiny bit homesick about it. A few days before, on the way to Phillip Island, we stopped at a farm that had kangaroos and turkeys in side-by-side pens. That morning, out in the desert at Uluru, one of the cafes at the Ayres Rock Resort had something with cranberries on the menu (maybe a muffin, I don’t remember) so turkey dinner was on my mind. I went to a roadhouse-style restaurant that could have been the real-life inspiration for the décor at Outback restaurants. Looking at the menu, with its expected sampling of burgers and Aussie bush tucker offerings, I found the perfect dish for my Thanksgiving dinner: pumpkin gnocchi. Maybe there was an angel looking over my shoulder.

The Australian Open is over today and, as if I planned it perfectly, I’ve run out of Australian penguin ornaments to talk about. I have a lot more stories to tell about Australia, but I guess they will have to wait for another day on a different blog.

Russ “Celebrate & Decorate” penguin with filigree wings, green and red hat and scarf, sequins and beads

Acquired: November 26, 2004

Number: 253

Price: 12.50 $AUS

Size: about 8 inches tall

Angry angel

I have several penguin angels, and I think they’ve all had a turn at the top of a tree, including this one with his angry, yet adorable face. I love the little sewn on buttons and those plaid wings. He was one of the two ornaments I found at the cavernous Christmas Cave in the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia. I made use of Melbourne’s wonderful and extensive public transportation system to get to the store, but finding this little ornament made the long ride worthwhile.

Raggedy felt penguin angel with plaid wings and an angry expression

Acquired: November 20, 2004, the Christmas Cave, Melbourne, Australia

Number: 250

Price: 5.95 $AUS

Size: About 4.25 inches tall