2012 White House Ornament

2012 White House Ornament - Courtesy of White House History.org

Every year I try to cut back a little on the number of gifts we give but I'm typically met with resistance.  Since we have so many people to buy for and I want the gifts to be special, we typically end up spending quite a bit of money on present.


When I'm buying Christmas presents I try to accomplish several things.  I want my gifts to be:

• Unique
• Meaningful
• Good value

That's one reason why, for the last 13 years, I've been giving White House Ornaments as gifts to my nieces.

This tradition started when I was on a business trip to Maryland about 13 years ago.  My parents came with me and we spent a few days in DC.  While I was hoping to get to see the White House (this was pre-9/11) the tours were suspended due to the activity in Bosnia.  However, we did make it to the White House Gift shop

While browsing for souvenirs at the gift shop I came across the White House Ornament Collection.  Since 1981 an ornament has been produced by the White House Historical Association honoring presidents and special events at the White House.  I decided to buy a few to take home for the kids.

Since then, every year I buy ornaments for Belle and two of my nieces.  I'm going to be honest with you, this isn't a gift that will send them into squeals of excitement.  However, Belle has told me that she appreciates getting it and looks forward each year to seeing what the ornament will look like.

If you are interested in purchasing this year's ornament (they sell past years as well) you can check out the White House Historical Association.  They have many other cool items in addition to the ornaments and shipping is free.  One word of caution, there are other websites that sell these ornaments.  I've never had any experience with the other sites (good or bad) but I prefer to buy from the original source.

As you may have noticed by the heat wave we're having here in the USA, it's the middle of summer.  However, since this is a gift I know that I will be giving every year it's an easy one for me to cross off my list.  I just placed my order today - can't wait to receive them!

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