My first stop was Hallmark (because, hello, it's Hallmark) and they did have an ornament Barbie as Clara (and Barbie as Corinne) ... but she was very blonde. My monkeychild is not a blondie (and I don't care who disagrees with me). There was no Mouse King in sight. I then wandered into a supposed holiday shop, but that was actually a party store that had 18 different types of $40 skanktumes for all seasons but only a small display of ornaments.
I was prepared to take hours out of my precious schedule to drive all the way to Cary or Fayetteville for a real ornament hunt. My mind was 85 percent made up. And then I alighted on it: the little shop tucked away in a corner. On a whim, I decided to explore. Can you guess what I found?
I participate in an ornament exchange each year, so I also bought a cute little ornament for that family (and Bella's second official ornament will come from the exchange). And because I was sucked into the magic, I went ahead and selected this cute gem for our family ornament.
The ornament spree wasn't over. While I cooked up a pot of turkey stew (the last of our Thanksgiving leftovers), the wee ones painted their own wooden ornaments. I have no idea what we'll do with these yet, but lorda mercy did those two love this activity:
I'm glad you found the ornaments you were looking for! I love the personalized people one!
I bought an ornament from The Yankee Candle store that had four stockings hung side by side that I personalized with a permanent marker. I should take a picture of it to share.
Where'd you go? Do tell! I can never find what I'm looking for in town, unless I'm shopping for my skanktumes. What we need is a dang craft store.
Anjie - I'd love to see your family ornament. I saw one that was a plaque with hooks (as many or as few as you need) that you can hang little stockings or snowmen on. Very cute!
Anna - I got the wooden ornaments at Michaels. There is ZERO in the way of craftsy around here -- and it totally sucks. Michaels had Christmas trees, Rudolphs, snowmen, Santas, etc. They were $1 each (and they're really big).
I love seeing the pictures of the kids deep in their creations. Such immersion. Contentment. It's good stuff.
Where is the little gem of a store tucked away in a corner??? I'd love to go see what they have! Is it here in Sanford?
Floretta Imports has a huge assortment of themed ornaments of all kinds! I do a lot of my holiday decoration shopping there! If you don't know, it is out on 15/501 between Pfizer (old Wyeth) and Deep River Road on the way to Pittsboro on the left. I worked there doing holiday arrangements about 20 or so years ago.
Wolfie - They love crafts so much, I try to give them something to do at least twice per week. Every day since painting those ornaments, the first thing Bella says when she gets home from school is, "I paindin again, kay Mama?" And then tears ensue when I have nothing for her to paint.
Kim - I can't remember the name. The Garden Shop maybe? It's the little shop beside the Social Security Administration in Riverbirch. I was going to link to it, but the name's not on the bag and I didn't take a receipt. D'oh! There is so much cute stuff there - including two supercute fat snowmen that I'm in love with. I like Floretta's too.