Ornament Review: Christmas Windows #15 - Outdoor Supply and Tackle - 2017 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Great scene that celebrates outdoor sports

Cons: No Christmas connection

The Bottom Line:

Outdoor sports window

Completely misses Christmas

Makes weird ornament

Still Fishing for Christmas

I grew up camping, and I still love it.  There is something about being in the outdoors away from the city that is wonderful.  Okay, so I do like my modern conveniences, so I don’t know if I’d want to do it full time, but I really wish I went camping more often.  Why am I bringing this up?  Because it relates to Hallmark’s 2017 Christmas Windows series piece, which features an outdoor store.

The store is named Outdoor Supply and Tackle.  In front of the store, we find a boy walking by.  He’s obviously been out ice fishing (it is Christmas time, right?) since he’s got a pole over one shoulder.  He’s smiling because it was a successful day, his dog is carrying the fish they caught in his mouth.   The store window itself features a scene of an orange tent by a lake with a canoe in it.  Behind this scene, we see a couple of evergreen trees and behind them, some stars and the moon.  When you turn the ornament around, you find some of the merchandise for sale, including a lantern, a pack, a fishing net, two fishing poles, a tackle box, and a bait bucket.

When I learned the theme for the year, I was excited, and even based on the initial pictures, I liked it.  But then I got a chance to really look at it, and I was disappointed.  My complaint is the exact same one I had with last year’s entry.  The series is called Christmas Windows.  Yet this particular window has nothing to do with Christmas.  Heck, if it weren’t for the ice on the roof and sidewalk, you could say this was any season at all.

As just a celebration of the great outdoors, however, this ornament is great.  I’ve never been fishing (I don’t like fish for one thing), but I love the camping scene in the window, and I know that fishermen will love what they see here.

The scene is built on a flat base, so it is easy to set this ornament out to display.  Personally, when I display this series, it’s usually around the base of one of my Christmas trees.  You’ll find the 15 in a Christmas tree series marker on the bottom of the ornament.

But if you do want to hang this ornament on your tree, you’ll be glad to know that it hangs straight.  That’s not surprising since the loop is on the roof which gives us plenty of room to balance.

When my ornament arrived, the fish in the dog’s mouth had broken off.  I was able to glue it back in rather easily, actually, and you’d never know now, but be careful because he is obviously fragile.

I hope this series gets back to creative themed Christmas decorations in windows.  While I do like the 2017 entry in the series, it is missing that Christmas touch.

You can build quite a town with the other ornaments in the Christmas Windows series.

Original Price: $20.00