Before everyone starts throwing things at me for posting something holiday related prior to Thanksgiving, I just want to note that a little pre-holiday prep never hurt anyone. So let’s cut right to the chase. Have you heard about this whole “Christmas Pickle” thing? It’s touted as a long standing German tradition based upon the story that a starving prisoner of war is given a pickle by a guard on Christmas, and that this small gesture allows him to survive the night. How that would ever work is beyond me since pickles have like 6 calories, but I digress. Anyway, the prisoner lives to tell the tale and writes to his family detailing his miraculous recovery via pickle. Word quickly spreads and people all over the country start hiding pickles on their trees to celebrate the man’s tale of survival.
The only problem is that no one in Germany actually participates in this pickle hanging activity. In fact, it actually appears that the pickle ornament myth probably originated in America. Go figure… These days the individual who finds the hidden pickle gets a
n extra special gift for their troubles. We really will do anything for more presents wont we?! However, since my nickname is “Gherkin” I think I absolutely must invest in a pickle ornament of my own. I doubt anyone will have any trouble finding it on our 3-foot tall fake tree though.
Last year I revived a personal Christmas tradition by making a rather clumsy Gingerbread Train with an Avon cookie cutter set that I was originally given when I was 12. While super fun and easy to work with, you unfortunately can’t find these kits for sale anywhere online. However, I did come across a Gingerbread Train that you can order from Amazon. I think it would be a big hit with kids of all ages and fortunately doesn’t involve hunting down retired Avon paraphernalia.
The following items fall into the category of seriously silly/unnecessary but would no doubt make adorable stocking stuffers: