Merry Christmas!

From a Lifesighs card by Chris Shea.

God Rest Ye Merry, Yumkins

As promised back in April, here are the Del Monte Country Yumkins Christmas ornaments. They were released in 1991, almost 10 years after the initial Yumkins debuted. The six plush ornaments vary from about 3 to 5 inches tall and were made by the company Greystone.

Sweetie Pea with candy cane:

Cobbie Corn in stocking:

Reddie Tomato with holly:

Lushie Peach with reindeer antlers:

Precious Pear with angel wings:

Juicie Pineapple in a Santa hat:

The popularity of the Country Yumkins continues to grow, and there is even a new Wikipedia page about the Yumkins since my post in April.

Frosty, the S'mores Man

Here is one of the popular S'mores ornaments from Seasons of Cannon Falls. Two marshmallows make up his body, and he sits atop a couple of squares of Hershey's chocolate and a graham cracker.

This is one of the original, unadulterated s'mores, but if you like fancier things, a vast array of costumed s'mores are available.

We Three Things of Orient Are

Today's collection of ornaments features some non-food anthropomorphic objects. I felt it was appropriate to include them in this season of peace on earth and goodwill toward all.

Here are Lumiere the Candlestick and Babette the Feather Duster from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. This ornament is by Enesco.


Here are two more Enchanted Objects from Beauty and the Beast: Mrs. Potts and her son Chip. These ornaments are by Hallmark.


And, lastly, a plush, grinning Christmas present. This ornament is by Dan Dee International Limited.

Oh, Come, All Ye Ice Cream

This cheerful ice cream cone ornament is from Seasons of Cannon Falls.

Peanuts Roasting on an Open Fire

Here we have a trio of Mr. Peanut ornaments. The first one, by Enesco, features Mr. Peanut with his highly-detailed nut cart:


The next ornament, also by Enesco, is Mr. Peanut posing as a nutcracker with an elfin friend:


And last, Mr. Peanut, adorned with a simple red scarf and standing by a pile of peanuts:

Hark! The Herald Hot Dogs Sing!

This ornament is a hot dog featuring mustard facial features and pickle feet. He carries a stick, presumably to use for roasting himself. Nothing symbolizes the magic of Christmas like an anthropomorphic frankfurter.

It Came Upon a Mushroom Clear

This happy wooden mushroom was a souvenir from Austria.

Deck the Halls with Smiling Holly

Here we have another Hallmark stuffed ornament. This one, from 1982, features three smiling holly berries backed with metallic leaves.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

Now that we've had our second major snowfall, and the made-in-China artificial tree is up, I'm finally in the Christmas spirit. Christmas means many things to many people, but to me Christmas has always been about food with eyes. As we count down to Christmas I'll share with you my treasured anthropomorphic ornaments. Today we have an assortment of stuffed treats from Hallmark. Made in 1986, these are in the same vein as the Crazy Crop series, but feature holiday goodies.

Here we have Peppy Peppermint:

Trudy Tree-T:

and
Cane D. Stripe

The series also features three other characters not in my collection (yet!).

Dee Licious:

Sweet Starlet:

And a lollipop whose name I don't know:

I've also found Cane D. Stripe in a larger size not meant for tree-hanging. Because you can never have enough food with eyes for the holidays.

Gaga for Yaya

One of the best things about Vancouver is its large Asian population. In addition to great restaurants, this means an abundance of stores selling Asian imports you just don't see outside of large metropolitan areas. My favorite was a Japanese one-to-three dollar store called Yoko-Yaya123. NabiscoMan waited patiently while I perused this store's large stock not just once, but twice. Knowing I had limited room in my luggage, I was able to contain myself and came away with just a few choice items including the following:

Adorable vegetable lunch box dividers:

Outside of the packaging:

Each strip is thin, clear plastic to separate and decorate your lunch.

And to make your lunch even cuter, some tiny mayonnaise containers:

Out of the package:

Each one is only two inches long and has a tiny spoon for dispensing mayonnaise or other condiments. Why can't American products be this cute?

Short Stack

While vacationing in Vancouver, I made a point of visiting a delightful shop called Occupied. I found out about it on one of my favorite websites/blogs, My Paper Crane. The store features works by Heidi Kenney as well as others in the “kawaii” tradition. I couldn’t resist a souvenir and picked out my very own Short Stack:

Here’s Short Stack in his new home. Note the cute cherry napkin and glass, finds from my favorite local store, The Katbird Shop.

More souvenirs later...