My mother sent this one when we first moved in here.
My mom started me buying ornaments as souvenirs when I was a kid…we were each allowed to buy an ornament on every family trip.
I still do it…not necessarily ornaments but small things (read: inexpensive and easy to pack) that can be hung on a tree.
I now have an entire tree full of ornaments and every single one has a story. Thry dont match, they wont make anybodys look book, but ai love them all
Peanut Jesus in the popsicle stick manger, the crumbling salt dough bell with a jammy jr. photo on it, the egg tempera painted ornaments the the big J made as a child and the surviving ornaments from the 1950’s that graced my parents’ tree.
as events always go . . . cleaning out my parents stuff we came across multiple boxes of (glass) tree ornaments. my parents always did-up a tree grand . . .
they literally fell apart as we picked them up . . .
we still do buy “yearly” ornaments - but I much prefer metal / non-glass for “keepsake” stuff.
I don’t have one now, but I was always intrigued by the ones that bubbled.
One year my husband sent my mother a string of 
pepper tree lights which she proudly displayed. A few months later he received this ornament
in the mail. Friendly rivalry between the two. My tree would never make the center spread in House Beautiful . Most of my ornaments are over 20 years old. Except for my grandkids school additions. Unwrapped and wrapped in the same old newspaper year after year. I suppose I should check the dates one of these days on the newspapers out of curiosity. What can I say. I’m a creature of habit, but no complaints so far.
