Ornament Review: A Visit from Santa #3 Event Repaint - Snowy Owl - 2011 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Unique look makes this ornament very different

Cons: Might be too different for some

The Bottom Line: 

Not traditional

But the unique look

Is very pretty

Bold Choices Work for the 2011 Visit from Santa Repaint

Changing an icon can be risky.  Santa wears red, and there is nothing else that would work for him, right?  I would have agreed with you until I saw Hallmark's event repaint for the third entry in their A Visit from Santa ornament series.  They went a different direction with Santa, but it really works.

Each ornament in this series features Santa with some animal, and in 2011, that animal is a snowy owl.  The owl is resting on Santa's right arm, and he's holding a wand with a snow flake on the end in his left hand.

All three of the ornament released so far have had Santa wearing primarily red.  This year, the accent color is a pretty dark blue.  But that's the original.

The repaint that Hallmark did on this ornament finds Santa dressed in pale almost baby blue.  The accents on his robe, gloves, and even his wand, are lavender.  Even the owl gets into the act by becoming a darker shade of gray than the original.

Now I know what you're thinking - Santa in blue?  What is this?  And if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have agreed with you.  I'm as traditional as it comes.  But it works.  No, I wouldn't want an entire series that looks like this, but for a one shot deal, it's very pretty and really stands out from the rest of the ornaments.

What doesn't work is the trim on Santa's hat and coat.  They've made it a cream here, but honestly I wish they'd have kept it white.  It just comes across as looking dirty, and I want to rub the dirt until it looks white.  But that's a minor issue for me.

Like the original, the base of the ornament was designed for Santa to stand upright if you wish to display him that way.  You'll also find a 3 in a Christmas tree on the bottom even though this isn't the official third ornament in the series.

When you hang Santa from the hook on his head, you'll find he leans slightly forward.  It almost looks like he's flying, especially if he is hanging high enough on your tree.  I would prefer it if he hung straight, but it's not enough to downgrade the ornament.

In this case, I absolutely recommend getting the original and the repaint.  While the basics of the ornament are the same, they look so very different that they really stand on their own.  It's worth the extra expense to have this unique look for Santa in your collection.

You absolutely need to keep an open mind when looking at the Visit from Santa 2011 repaint.  But if you give it a chance, I think you'll really come to like it.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Visits from Santa.

Original Price: $12.95