There is a tradition where a pickle ornament is hung on the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve and the first person to find the pickle on Christmas morning gets a special gift. In most cases, it is claimed  to be an old German tradition, but I can’t actually find any evidence that this is, in fact, true! Nobody seems to know the real origin of the tradition, but some claim it was made up in America in the 1880s by Woolworth’s company after they started selling German glass Christmas ornaments. Regardless of the true origin, it’s potentially a fun little ‘extra’for Christmas day.

A few years ago I took some glass blowing classes, since that was something I’d always wanted to try but had never had the opportunity.It was a fun and challenging experience, to be sure! The instructor of our class was really great and he never discouraged us from attempting something that might be beyond our current abilities. After all, how else are you supposed to improve? So I decided one night that I was going to try and make a pickle ornament.  You have to first make a long-ish bubble, then use a mold to make a ridge pattern around the sides, which is surprisingly difficult to do since the glass cools off very quickly in the mold. Then you blow out the bubble more to thin it and make it larger and snip into the ridges at various points to make the bumpy surface of the pickle. Finally, the hanging loop is added and the piece is complete. 

I admit, my pickle is not the greatest: it’s small and heavy and doesn’t have the best ‘pickle’ shape. I’m sure I could buy a much better looking pickle ornament in a store. But I made it myself after only a few weeks of classes. I’m proud of my ugly little pickle. And it looks great on the tree!