Celebration Barbie

After looking through Hallmark after Hallmark, I finally found the ornament I'd been looking for all season long; Celebration Barbie. Why did I need a Celebration Barbie ornament you ask? Because of the tradition it inspires within me. As a kid, each year my grandma bought my sister and I a Precious Moment ornament. Now that we are grown we each have 25+ ornaments for our tree and they are just lovely. Not many people may know that they have a small hole in the bottom in which we insert a white Christmas light and they glow beautifully. We have enough to decorate most of a tree with them and I love each one. Every year we open the box and look at all of them and say, "I know this one is mine because..." or we remember the occassions that happened the year we got a certain ornament. Only one belongs to my mom, and she treasures it because she gets to keep part of the tradition for herself.

I have adored Hallmark products since I worked at a Hallmark store in college. I loved going to work there so much and when Christmas rolled around I fell in love with the magic of their ornaments. The year I worked there was a Barbie anniversary. She came out with a shoe tree, several collector edition ornaments, and Barbie home decor. I just couldn't resist. I now own that shoe tree, a Barbie doll ornament, and a Barbie Bunco game that has never been played. I still can't believe the money I poured into those Hallmark ornaments that year but I have been hooked ever since and I knew from then on that one day I would be buying a Barbie ornament one day for my daughter.

When I began my own small little family, I was determined that we would have a tradition of Hallmark ornaments all our own. Last year I bought a beautiful snowflake that reads "Our first Christmas Together" to start our collection. This year I instantly fell in love with the Baby Booties from the commercial. It's formal name is "B is for Baby (and Booties)!" I mean, how cute is that?! But by the time I had Reese and was able to make it to a Hallmark Store they were sold out. (I guess everyone loved the commercial as much as me) Along with the Celebration Barbie I had dreamed about for so many years. I was crushed, because once an ornament is sold out, it's gone and no one is getting their hands on one unless they're willing to pay the big bucks on ebay.

But, this weekend, I found them! Both of them! One tiny little store had them and I was thrilled. I almost hugged the lady working when I saw them. I snatched them off the shelf and probably would've fought someone if they'd tried to take it away but luckily, I didn't have to. I went home that night with a grin from ear to ear, those sought-after ornaments were mine at last.

So as I open the box to put it on my Christmas garland (our house is overflowing this year so we don't have room for a tree) I can't help but feel a little nostalgic. Each year my daughter will open her Barbie ornament and hang it on a tree branch. Each year she will look at them and remember some small story about one of the dolls and even if it's for a tiny minute she will have a warm fuzzy about her collection. And when she is my age, she will hunt down a special ornament for her child and think about how much she loves her Barbies and the stories that go with it. She will have tears in her eyes when she puts them on her tree and when she wraps the gift for her child. It will make her happy to know that someone cared enough about her to do something so special and she will want to pay that forward to someone she loves as much. And that is part of the magic of Christmas.