Please recommend your coolest holiday ornaments!
November 30, 2014 5:57 AM   Subscribe

Show me your best, weirdest, coolest, funniest, or most beautiful ornaments that can be got for $20 or less.

I participate in a annual Yankee Swap where all of the gifts to be swapped and stolen are Christmas ornaments. This event is always a raucous good time with about 15 close friends who all have fabulous senses of humor and enjoy the weird, wacky, tacky and especially the beautiful.

The best fun of a yankee swap is when an item becomes coveted and participants start stealing them. I'd like to bring a highly coveted ornament!

To give you an idea of what's been popular in previous years...

The Beautiful

The Christmas Pickle!

The Crafty

The Dramatic

The WTF

Watcha got, MeFi?
posted by waterisfinite to Shopping (18 answers total) 27 users marked this as a favorite
 
Try Archie McPhee.
posted by govtdrone at 6:06 AM on November 30, 2014 [5 favorites]


My family is consistently amazed by all the pies KISS has their fingers in (yes, we noticed the KISS Ugly Dolls and Hello Kitties at the toy store yesterday and even saw a plushy Space Man in the crane game on the way out...) Yes, we know the Demon is behind all this, which is why this Star Child ornament is so damn funny.
posted by peagood at 6:08 AM on November 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


Might I suggest Lego? Many stores have a create-your-own-minifig option; you could create themed minifigs and attach hooks to their heads.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 6:26 AM on November 30, 2014


We just picked up some weird and beautiful ones from World Market
posted by KogeLiz at 6:30 AM on November 30, 2014


If you're crafty and nerdy enough, you could make your own.
posted by Too-Ticky at 7:15 AM on November 30, 2014


Best answer: I find pier one and winners good for this sort of thing.

Also this site has mermaid firemen.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 7:40 AM on November 30, 2014 [4 favorites]


I'd have a look at Gabi Reith's Etsy shop. Handmade wooden ornaments from Scotland. Full disclosure: the lady designed my business logo and I think her style is awesome.
posted by kariebookish at 7:46 AM on November 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


I found these on Etsy a few weeks ago and have been coveting them ever since. Pretty glass circuitry on the tree!
posted by sciatrix at 8:05 AM on November 30, 2014


I'm surprised nobody has yet mentioned the awesome Ravensburger puzzleball ornaments. They're hard to find in the US, but are quite nice and come in a little gift box. You can find some of the on amazon, others on eBay. The kids and I have a lot of fun putting these together and then hanging them on the tree.
posted by math at 9:42 AM on November 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: My god, you people are brilliant. I just had to say it.
posted by waterisfinite at 9:45 AM on November 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


Bronner's has everything.
posted by darksong at 9:50 AM on November 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


I would also like to express my delight at seeing this thread--I'm gearing up to buy decorations for my first ever Christmas tree as an adult, and this is giving me all sorts of interesting ideas.
posted by sciatrix at 10:05 AM on November 30, 2014


Deviled eggs.
Chinese takeout
posted by Kangaroo at 1:02 PM on November 30, 2014 [2 favorites]


Dangit, darksong beat me to Bronner's.
posted by mon-ma-tron at 4:17 PM on November 30, 2014


Seconding World Market. It's my favorite source of beautiful but unusual ornaments.

Also, if you have a touristy part of town, you'll probably find lots of interesting ornaments at the gift shops this time of year. Here it's all cacti with Santa hats and nativity scenes in traditional Navajo dress. Same deal if your city has any kind of art shows or festivals.
posted by Alexandra Michelle at 4:27 PM on November 30, 2014


Sometimes the White House gift shop's annual ornament is fun. Sometimes it's boring as hell. In 2012 we got a little metal ornament of Taft in a car, and this year it's Warren G. Harding's funeral train!

(These fancy ornaments completely violate the $20 requirement, but may I also recommend this rubber chicken Santa for only $7.50?)
posted by duffell at 10:21 AM on December 1, 2014


Mr Hankey the Christmas Poo. (Urban Outfitters has a plush version of the ornament for $10, but I don't see it online).

Anthropologie carries beautiful and unusual ornaments as well.
posted by Dragonness at 7:23 AM on December 4, 2014


Response by poster: St. Peepsburg wins this round. I got this very sexy guy.
posted by waterisfinite at 11:22 AM on December 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


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