Every year, I add at least one or two Winnie the Pooh Hallmark Christmas
ornaments to my collection. I usually wait until after Christmas to buy
any for myself, but this year I decided to go ahead and splurge on
Hello, Snow!, my favorite of the 2011 Pooh ornaments.
This
ornament, crafted by Hallmark artist Tracy Larsen, is a magic ornament,
and it truly has a magical quality about it even before you activate the
light and sound. Pooh, clad in a turquoise scarf and festive Santa hat,
is trekking his way through the Hundred-Acre Wood, lantern in one
orange paw. The other holds a string, which is attached to a sled on
which Piglet, all bundled up in a sea green scarf and hat, is taking an
exuberant ride. Pooh obviously does not mind tugging his very best
friend along; both of them wear enormous smiles.
Pooh’s ear
almost brushes one of the limbs on the stately birch that takes up a
good portion of this ornament. They stand on a platform that is flat on
the bottom and mostly flat but somewhat lumpy on the top, to give the
appearance that they are walking in freshly fallen snow. The front of
the round platform reads “So much Christmas wonder to discover!” in
blue, with blue snowflakes as accents, and the ground up top is dazzling
white and covered with glitter, as are the birch branches.
The tree has five main limbs, each of which has two or three branches
forking out. This makes Hello, Snow! an especially delicate ornament,
and given how nicely it stands on a shelf, I won’t be taking the chance
of one of those branches breaking by hanging it on the tree. However,
for those inclined to try it, there is a brass ring on one of the limbs,
roughly in the middle of the tree.
Meanwhile, hanging from a
branch on each of the limbs is a small plastic snowflake attached with
thread. These are cute and covered with glitter. Four of the snowflakes,
at least on the one I have, look very similar to each other, while
another is quite distinct from them, which makes me wonder why the
others aren’t more strongly differentiated. They’re so tiny, though,
that you don’t really notice what they look like unless you examine them
closely.
Having these tiny dangling objects also makes me
reluctant to hang the ornament on the tree, where it would be easier for
one of the flakes to come off and get lost. While I love the
snowflakes, I’m also enchanted by the cardinal who perches on a branch
directly above Pooh’s head and gazes down at him. This handsome red bird
stands out particularly well against all the white branches with their
occasional black stripes.
I love the little poem printed on
the box here. Its eight lines capture the wonder of a wintry landscape
combined with the warmth of friendship. I especially love the last three
lines of the eight-line poem: “The friends kept gazing at the sky, / So
warm with wonder and delight, / they didn’t feel the time slip by.”
When you’re a bear of little brain and a plush pig, chances are that you
have neither promises to keep nor miles to go before you sleep, so
there’s nothing to deter you from stopping in the Wood on a snowy evening.
Once the three button batteries have been inserted in the bottom of the
ornament, pressing the small white button directly in front of Piglet
will activate the “magic,” which means the lantern lighting up and a
lush, flutey orchestration of Let It Snow playing. The music and
light goes together; both end at the same time, and the lantern light
seems to ebb and flow with the melody. It’s really quite lovely,
especially in a darkened room.
I know not everybody finds snow
as magical as I do, but on an ornament like this, where its beauty can
be enjoyed with no plunging temperatures, it’s easy to get caught up in
the enchantment of a winter wonderland, especially in the company of
such grand pals as Pooh and Piglet.
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