Christmas Tradition: The Ugly Ornaments

Day 23 of 25 Days of Christmas

It all started with this bright pink ornament that was regifted to me by my sister-in-law Tammy in 2007. Yes I like pink and all but I found it to be quite ugly and after I found out that she regifted it to me, I got the idea of getting her an ugly ornament for her tree. And so began, the Ugly Ornament Exchange. The following Christmas when she received her ornament from me, she laughed about it. Our exchange went on for a couple more years and then she decided she no longer wanted to participate in it.

I didn’t want to give up this funny tradition so easily, so I asked my sister Jennifer if she would carry it on with me. So that’s where we are today. In retrospect, that first ornament isn’t nearly as ugly anymore compared to the ones that we have given each other. Funny how it works out like that.

Here is an ugly but rather beautiful ornament gifted to me from my sister a couple years ago. It’s quite large at about 2-3 inches around.

We alternate years and make it a point that you can only purchase the ornament during the current Christmas season. So there is no stock-piling of ugly ornaments because that would just take the fun out of it. Sometimes you find the perfectly ugly ornament early in the season and sometimes you find it closer to Christmas. I wish I could show you the one that I picked out for my sister this year but I don’t want to spoil the surprise.

I got this ugly lamp (It may not be a leg lamp but it’s still ugly!) last Christmas. It is proudly displayed on my tree in all it’s glory. These are only a couple in a whole collection of them (that grows slowly because we alternate years) and pretty soon I am thinking of putting them on their own tree.

It has happened from time to time that my sister actually LIKES the ornament that I have given her. She’s got a weird sense of style I guess because the darn things are ugly. lol I love traditions that start out like this because instead of my getting irritated by her regifting the ornament in the 1st place (I am NOT a regifter unless someone expresses interest in wanting it).

This is part of the 25 Days of Christmas Series here at The Weekend Housewife. Join me for 25 glorious days of Christmas recipes, crafts, activities, photo prompts and tips and a lot more!