No talking today - I'm busy cleaning the place up for another round of the 2022 (b) Christmas House Tour.
I can't tell you how many antique ornaments I've broken over the years. I've collected them for the past 20 years or so.
Every year I break at least one of them just due to the Oopsies.
One year my little siamese cat Cleo cat climbed up the tree and sent ornaments crashing to the ground. Another year my entire tree fell over with half of the ornaments exploding on the wood floor like rainbow shrapnel.
And this year I broke my oldest ornament. A very small, mercury glass trumpet from Germany. I haven't paid more than 50 cents for any of these but with every one that shatters, I feel like I've just accidentally picked off the last of an endangered species.
I also feel pretty bad that after 75 years of Christmasses, I was the only asshole to break it.
They're getting a lot harder to find at garage sales and ... even though you can buy some nice (but very expensive) ornaments at antique shows, they're less fun to buy that way. Not just because of the price, but because there's a certain sense of gratification you get from buying antique glass Christmas ornaments from a garage sale.
Would you like to save this stuff?
We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.
Whoever owned them first, probably grand or even great grandparents, loved them. Over the years, after time, the family who inherited them stopped feeling obligated to put them on their own tree.
So on a Saturday morning in the middle of the summer they press a $1 sticker onto the box of them and place them in between an old coffee maker and the weights that never got lifted.
My heart jumps whenever I see them because as far as I'm concerned I'm a rescue worker. Like heritage homes and native species it's important to me that these vintage ornaments are saved and get back in a home that values them.
With a homeowner that mourns when they break instead of breathing a sign of relief punctuated by a high five and squealing "Only 17 more to go!"
Please enjoy the puzzle!
Have a good remainder of your weekend.
Sarah Baar
Karen this one speaks to my soul. I have a similar photo (No puzzle however) of my cherished ornaments.
Karen
So you expect to break all of yours too and needed to capture them before that happened? ;) ~ karen!
Kathleen Hartzell
I know I’m commenting via an old post, but I’m catching up! I do puzzles of small scale often, have a stack of 500’s and 1000’s waiting for ???? But doing your jigidi what’s its name ones, they move all over the page and make it hard to move pieces. Do they not like ipads??
Karen
They do! Make sure you click the black square on the upper right to make the puzzle big and fill the whole page. And if you spread your fingers or touch them to the puzzle (not the puzzle piece) it will move left, right, up, down. Once you get used to it you'll figure out how it works. There's just a tiny bit of a learning curve. ~ karen!
Tracy
I am so glad I found you on Pinterest! I just had surgery and needed some good belly laughs which you provided in spades, thank you!!!
Karen
So I think we can assume your surgery wasn't stomach or mouth surgery. Hope you're recuperating well! ~ karen!
Dani
dang, that was a good one. i thought "how can there be pieces missing on an electronic puzzle". If you get internet points for engagement for how long it takes to put together a puzzle, you're welcome. GORGEOUS picture and ornaments. I love love love glass ornaments. I'm also a calamity jane. I have 4 cats and 2 dogs and I'm still always the asshole who breaks the good ornaments. Merry Christmas, friend!
Karen
Thanks, I was pretty happy with that photo and the fact that I did it without incident. ~ karen!
Gina Davis
loved it!!
Karen
Excellent!~ ~ karen
Thera
I use green zip ties from Dollarama, one through the ornaments’ hoop and then around the branch. Through falls and 4 cats I haven’t had a single broken ornament in quite a few years.
Sabina
Why? Why? WHY? Why does it keep bouncing back to jumbled puzzle pieces when I’m almost done with the damn puzzle??? The struggle is real with these jigidi puzzles!
Mark
I remember my father had a box of precious ornaments, there were about 3" in diameter and had these fragile reflectors in the middle. I used to like to adjust the the lights so they would shine into the reflector and they would glow. One year the cat knocked the tree down and I thought it wasn't going to live to see another sunrise....
Toughest puzzle yet... 15:51
Marion Hewitt
I was looking at the picture of your older tree ornaments and we have most of them still! If ever I want to downsize I will give you a call. They deserve to go to someone who loves them as much as I do.
Jody
I never really liked puzzles growing up but I am really really enjoying your puzzles. Maybe because they are relatively quick to do and the photos are great. Thanks!
Kelly
What you, and Vikki said too! I always wonder if something happens to me, who will love what I've collected? Who will understand the history, and the stories behind the pieces and photos? Will they appreciate the find? I have boys. I doubt their future wives will want my treasures. A friend suggested to write the name of the one you want to have it, on the back (of paintings) or underside of objects, or leave a list somewhere in an obvious place. If I see a vintage trumpet ornament, I'll send it along! I have
my grandmother's little travel journal - it's hysterical! She records all the prices of meals, gas, and motels. She references my grandfather and his buddy going to the store to get "toe medicine" or "throat medicine", i.e. booze! So funny.