Ornament Review: O Christmas Tree - Once Upon a Christmas #9 - 2019 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Fun scene, dialog, and music

Cons: None

The Bottom Line:

Santa leaving gifts

Nearing end of Christmas trip

Scene with lights and sound

Quiet!  We Don’t Want Santa Caught Leaving Presents Beneath the Christmas Tree

Over the course of Hallmark Once Upon a Christmas ornament series, we’ve gotten to watch Santa prepare for and head out on his trip around the world delivering Christmas presents.  And this year, it all pays off with O Christmas Tree.

You see, this year, Santa is finally leaving presents under a tree.  Santa is kneeling by a tree, and he’s looking at us with a finger over his lips, asking us to be quiet so we don’t tip off the family that he’s there.  It looks like this year, this family is getting a train, which is unwrapped under the tree.  Santa also has a teddy bear on his knee, and there’s a present wrapped in blue paper by his other knee.  This family has been very good.  How do we know that?  No, not because of the presents, but because the ornaments on the tree are old Hallmark ornaments.  If you collect Hallmark ornaments, that automatically makes you good, right?  Right?  Anyway, there’s a rocking horse, a bird, and what appears to be a World Within ornament, to name three I recognize.

Like the rest of the series, this is a magic ornament.  It connects to the older Keepsake Magic Cord (sold separately).  As soon as you plug it in, you’ll see that the lights on the base of the ornament and on the tree flash.  While the lights on the base are the typical read and green, the lights on the tree change color, rotating through all the colors of the rainbow.  Of course, the fun starts when you press the button.  That’s when music starts playing and we get a message from Santa about how lovely the Christmas tree looks with the ornaments that must hold special memories.  He then talks about how happy the children will be the next morning when they see the presents.  Once he’s done talking, the music picks up.  This year’s it’s “O Christmas Tree.”  All told the show lasts about a minute.

But that’s not the only part of the show.  The lights blink in time with the narration and music.  Not only does this ornament’s lights play in time with the show, but so do all the other ornaments connected to the same Magic Cord.  Honestly, that was something I always enjoyed about the Magic Cord – even unrelated ornaments will interact.  As amazing as the interaction of the new Power Cord ornaments are, this is one thing they are missing.  Anyway, obviously, I love this aspect of the ornament.

And, the ornament itself is wonderful.  While the sound adds to the ornament, the scene itself is a great next chapter in this story.  The ornaments are fun Easter Eggs for serious collectors, but if you don’t recognize them, you can still enjoy this ornament.  This is definitely one series that is fun to have all of so we can watch Santa’s journey on Christmas Eve.

The ornament has a solid base, partially to house the workings for the magic part of the ornament.  As a result, you can set this ornament and the series out anywhere you have a flat surface to be displayed.  This would make a very fun way to see Santa’s journey.  Or, you can hang it from your tree.  It does tip slightly Santa’s way when you go to hang it, but it should be fairly easy to disguise with a few tree branches.

Since this is the ninth in the series, you’ll find a 9 in a Christmas tree on the bottom of the base.

I don’t see how this series can continue much longer since Santa has now delivered presents.  But I will worry about that in future years.  For now, I will enjoy O Christmas Tree.

Enjoy more of Santa's journey with the rest of the Once Upon a Christmas series.

Original Price: $29.99