Wednesday, December 13th, 2006
Family Tradition: Christmas Ornaments with Secret Compartments
It’s funny what you find while strolling the aisles of an at-least-15-year-old Longs Drugs store that you normally never shop at, but get drawn into because you see a “Grand Opening!” banner outside. Upon closer inspection, the banner read Grand re-Opening, though the “re-” was small and turned 90 degrees counter-clockwise.
For $6 I picked up a Ghirardelli Hanging Ornament Ball filled with Gourmet Chocolate. It’s a spherical blue-and-gold or red-and-gold tin ornament with a removable top that reveals eight square Ghirardelli chocolates. Of course, the chocolate isn’t the point. I ate the chocolate on the drive home and told my wife I bought a hollow ornament for our Little Miss. She didn’t bat an eye!
(Whoops, I forgot to read to her my blog posting for today.)
My plan is to hide a small gift inside the ornament each year for our daughter to discover on Christmas morning. The lid takes some effort to pop off, assuring that she won’t sneak a peek until she is much older.
This year I inserted a $3 tiny plush panda, also from Longs Drugs. He has magnets in his paws and he sticks to the ornament.
Here are a few hollow ornaments I found with a shake of the Google Ball:
- Ghirardelli Ornament (but it’s probably less expensive at Longs Drugs and similar venues that sell Ghirardelli chocolates)
- Stars or rocking horse ornaments
- Santa or snowman ornaments
- Treasure box top ornament (very small!)