Hobby Thread - December 13, 2025 [Tannenbaum Rex]

Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. As previewed, the Ace of Spades Wheel of Hobbies (TM) landed on Christmas Ornaments.

Last week, the call went out for Horde Christmas ornament submissions. Are you thinking "I'm a grinch that did not submit an ornament, but I am eager to see what others submitted. I can't wait to get into the content!" I knew it. Enjoy.

What are you hobbying?

As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. All (legal) hobbying is welcome. However, politics, current events and religious debates can live in threads elsewhere. Pants are optional. Puns are welcome and encouraged.

Play nice. Don't be a troll and do not feed the trolls.

Christmas ornaments are more than plastic, wood, metal or glass. They may have aesthetic value but usually they are important and valued because of their origin story. Could be a special person or relative that gifted it. Could be someone that made it. Could be a treasure from travels or a family tradition. Could be the age and previous owners. Ornaments often have value because of their meaning.

Thanks much to the Horde who submitted treasures of their own. Enjoy their stories and share some of your own.

From "Perfessor" Squirrel:

When I lived in Germany as a teenager, my parents would take us kids to the Christkindlmarkt in Bayreuth. They'd buy us each a Christmas ornament for the tree. I always wanted a giant nutcracker, but I had to make do with this little guy. He's standing on the box of the rest of my ornaments.

Unfortunate feline follow-up:

I foolishly forgot to put the Christmas ornament back in the box after I snapped a picture of it.

This morning, I discovered that the ornament had been knocked off the box onto the floor of my dining area and had broken in two. Unfortunately, I can only find the top half. If I can ever find the bottom half, there's a good chance I can glue it back together. I'm afraid the bottom half has been batted around so much it's disappeared into the void (like the countless ping pong balls I have scattered in my house).

This right here is why I don't ever have a Christmas tree.

From JQ:

Our neighbor has a laser-cutting device and made these 3 snowflake ornaments for us last year. Pretty cool! Just slide the pieces together for 3-D effect.

The wooden ones were a farm-store find. They looked handmade at first glance, but alas, I fear they were merely assembled by hand after mass-production of the parts. Probably printed on the thin wood and die-cut, then glued together. Still, they are so cute that I bought 2 of each plus extra cows and sheep.

From ARiK:

The folded stars in the box were made by me in Cub Scouts around 1968. The Snoopy was re-purposed from a model kit about the same time and the glass clam shells and house are survivors from my parents collection and were old in 1968.

The two Hallmark "Beagle Scout" ornaments are near and dear to my heart as an Eagle Scout and Eagle Scout dad and former adult leader.

From Diogenes:

Mrs D purchased this when we were stationed in Germany (long ago) in Rothenburg au der Tauber. The store is called Katie Wolfharts. Known for their Christmas stuff. We have a bunch of their ornaments but this silly little thing just appeals to me.

From Victor Tango Kilo:

We buy an ornament to commemorate every year. 2021 was the year Bravo and Charlie were born.

From wcgreen:

My grandmother, crocheted this tree skirt when I married in 1978.  We’ve placed it under our tree every year since then.  The wooden tree was made by a local woodworker; it's the newest addition to my Christmas tree forest and it's keeping the skirt on the table for its photo.

I made the ornaments from a pattern in McCall's Needlework magazine in the mid-1980s.  They are the first ornaments hung on our tree each year.

From scampydog:

The cat is is scampywife's ornament from 1975, from Santa. She has one from 1978 and 1981 also. Kind of fun.

Collage: Our tradition... kids/parents each get a new ornament every year. Often tied to what is going on in life. Kids events, sports, hobbies, new job, etc., will be the ornament theme. Ma and Pa, we get things that fit our personality quirks.

From Doof:

One of my favorite ornaments. Flintstones set from the 70s. We had a set of four. I have two and my sister has two.

From Gratetful:

The best Hallmark ornaments were from the 1980s. This is one of them (with two sides). They were simple, heartfelt and cherished every year I put them on the tree.

From Teresa in Fort Worth:

I made these to give as gifts to friends and family in 1996 - a "bell" made from a tiny terra cotta pot that I decorated. Got the idea from something I saw in a magazine that year.

This is a drum ornament that I made in second grade. It was a class project - each of us made one (using an empty wooden spool, some batting, a piece of fabric, and some glitter) to give to our parents to put on the tree that Christmas. My Mom put that on the tree every year, and when I set up my own house, she gave it to me to put on my Christmas tree. Our poor kids have had to hear that silly story every year when the tree gets put up.

From Stephen Price Blair:

I'm all-in on celebrating the semiquincentennial, having started in 2023 with a series of posts on bicentennial cookbooks, then centennial cookbooks in 2024, and, this year, starting the 250th early with Samuel Young's speech on the 42nd anniversary (the meaning of life!) of the Battle of Bennington.

"All nations, from time immemorial, have had their days of commemoration. These days have marked the character of the nation itself. Among the Pagan nations they commemorate the birth day of some supposed God or Goddess. In Monarchies they commemorate the birthday of some favorite Prince or Princess. In Aristocracies they commemorate the birth day of some splendid Nobleman. But in the United States of America we commemorate the birth day of our Liberties."

So when I saw the Melania Trump 250th collection, I decided to take a chance on the star, which looked very elegant in the site's photos. It just arrived a few weeks ago, and I'm very happy with it. But I was even more pleasantly surprised - though I probably shouldn't have been surprised - to see "Made in the USA" on the side.

From tcn in AK:

My fav is the photo ornament with a picture of my son age 2-1/2 years in his Halloween costume as a tiger.

The other one is a gorgeous Alaska ornament from The Kobuk Shop which is a historical little treasure located in the oldest building in Anchorage, also known by its original name "Kimball's Dry Goods." Every ornament on my tree is distinct. Some would say it's chaotic.

From tRustyHudson:

The sound of Christmas in our house, a "Light and Magic" Hallmark ornament from 1989. Kringles Workshop. Plugs into your string of lights and the little elves saw and hammer, and the little gears whir and clack. We had that on our tree since I was 8. The original finally stopped working shortly before I married my wife, and damned if I didn't find another one for our first tree. And when that one gave up the ghost my wife bought another for me. I'm sure when this one goes we'll find another. Wouldn't be Christmas without this clacking in the background.

The following are the nice brass carburetor floats that I hang on our tree : 2 Carter (a WDG and WD-O) floats from Hudsons and a Rochester Q-Jet float from a old GM I can't recall. They're shiny brass.

Editor note: space constraints allowed only one of the carburetor float ornaments, but I don't know which one is pictured.

From JuJuBee:

I bought this Hallmark ornament two months ago but it's already my all-time favorite. I didn't even put it on the tree. It's on my nightstand so I can see it frequently, and it's staying there all year.

From Shelf of Monkeys:

Coming straight out of the early 70s and my childhood is my treasured paper mache blue cow that was given to me by my mother. The "flower power" decoration provides the finishing touch. She always is prominently displayed at eye level.

From Tankascribe:

The first year we were married my husband and I invited our parents over to our place for Thanksgiving. I made my first turkey; my MIL asked for the turkey carcass to take home, from which she made luscious turkey noodle soup. Come Christmas, she presented me with the intact wishbone from my first turkey, spray-painted gold, covered with green fuzz and tied up with red yarn to be used as a Christmas tree ornament. That was 45 years ago and one leg of the wishbone has broken off, but it's still my favorite!

From Margsnow:

These are two ornaments I made. They were inspired by ornaments I saw on Pinterest.

From Lirio100:

This fish is a very sentimental favorite, the poor thing is pretty time worn. It was on my grandmother's tree when she was a child, in the early 1900's. I suspect it's even older since her family was originally from Germany and might have either brought it or have it sent. It's about five inches from mouth to tail tip, made of blown glass. The original red coloring can just be seen, while the silver mesh over the body is barely there now. I still treasure it!

Bonus hobbying content - check out the tree skirt that Grateful made for our tree! Applique and embroidery done by hand.

This is also your reminder to stop by Club ONT later for the Christmas party!

Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week? We did an scrounging and scavenging theme. The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.

Notable comments from last week:

Words of wisdom:

"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).

If you have trouble finding something in the content or comments that resonates with you, contribute something from your personal hobbying. We will feature a different theme next time. What are you hobbying? We love showing off Horde hobbying. Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Do mighty things.

posted by Open Blogger at 05:30 PM

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