Ornament Review: 2008 Gingerbread Lane - Noelville #3 - 2008 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: So many small details make this look great lit up

Cons: Pretty plain when the lights aren't on

The Bottom Line: 

Ordinary house

For this creative series

Still looks great when lit

Noelville's First House Lights Up Well, but It's Rather Plain

So far in the village of Noelville, we have two businesses but no houses.  Hallmark changed that with 2008 Gingerbread Lane, the third in this fun ornament series that features gingerbread houses that light up.

This house is a two story affair, so it's a tall ornament.  There are windows on both levels all the way around.  The roof has little candy hearts in each shingle and a candy cane across the very top.  There are bushes made out of hard candies around the outside of the house, and in the front right corner there's a gingerbread man who has just finished a snowman.  There's even a Christmas wreath over the red door with 2008 on it.  Do you get the feeling that this ornament was released in 2008?

When you look at this ornament compared to the others in the series, it looks very plain.  The brown walls dominate the ornament, with red being the secondary color.  The other houses in this series feature a lot more creative colors and candy embellishments.  This one just feels like it is missing something.

There is a hole in the back that will fit a bulb from a string of Christmas tree lights.  And when you have a light in this ornament, it definitely comes alive.  All the windows glow yellow.  The hearts in the roof glow.  The bushes around the house light up.  Heck, even the red accents on the wreath out front light up.  While the house may be tall, it is fairly narrow.  That means all the elements that are supposed to light up do.  In fact, this is the ornament that lights up best in the series so far.

The base of the ornament is large and flat.  In addition to the house, there's a little bit of snow around the outside.  Yes, there is glitter in the snow and on the roof, but if you are careful, you can still handle the ornament without getting it all over your fingers.  Hallmark has the copyright information and the 3 in a Christmas tree series marking on the bottom.

You could certainly choose to display this series on a shelf or in a cabinet.  But if you want to hang it on your tree, there's a small brass ring in the middle of the roof.  Since the ornament is pretty much semetrical, it's no surprise that the ornament hangs perfectly straight, meaning the only thing that might make it crooked would be the connection to the light string.  It's always tricky with an ornament like this to get it hanging close enough to a light that the string doesn't tilt it.

When this ornament is lit up, I really like it.  But just by itself, 2008 Gingerbread Lane is pretty plain.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Noelville series.

Original Price: $16.50