Jim Selinger has designed this beautiful “Four Colly Birds” ornament.He says, “There is no partridge, nor any turtle doves. I just liked the design and it was best suited to the colly birds.” Jim’s designs are unique. There are no otherornaments like these. If you do not have any of Jim’s ornaments, I suggest you consider getting some lest your collection be lacking a very important and beautiful category of sterling ornaments.

Here are two more of Jim Sellenger's very unusual silver ornaments. One is the Santa Bell and the other is "Uncle Krist" because of his resemblance to Uncle Sam. Jim is known for this particular style of ornament because of his previous "Long Talls" series.

This ornament was the topic of conversation at one of our collector’s meeting. Peg Zurkowski sold raffle tickets (to raise money to advertise the sale at the collector’s meeting) and the person who could guess what it was, would win the ornament.

Of course, Peg did not show us the back. As you can see it is the 25th anniversary of the Tammy and Jim Baker Empire which collapsed.

This ballerina is a Galmer ornament. Most of you are aware that there is a set of Galmer ornaments which represent the Nutcracker Suite. This ballerina is the eighth ornament of that series.

June-Anne Hare designs are so delicate. The angel is one of a series. If your collection does not include the Hare designs, you can correct that error by contacting Sterling Collectables at 1-800-636-4756 or go directly to their web page, www.sterlingcollectables.com to view and order these beautiful ornaments.

This is June Hare's Skating Teddy, which I think is especially charming. It is also available through Sterling Collectables.

The last time I met with June-Anne she brought me these two ornaments from Great Britain so I would not have to pay postage which often is more expensive than the ornaments. The Braybrook and Britten Robin is a simple design made from very heavy silver. Unfortunately, the hallmarks are embedded so deeply that they actually show through the other side of the ornament. The B & B Mistletoe is lovely. I have a Buccellati Olive branch and when I first saw this ornament, I assumed it was also an olive branch. I guess Mistletoe makes more sense. Certainly the Mistletoe is a symbol of Christmas. It is more than 4” long.

The Hand & Hammer ornaments for 2005 are exactly what you will need to have a perfect sterling tree. A collector once said to me that she couldn’t possibly decorate her tree without the Hand and Hammer ornaments. She’s an artist and she says that an ornament should never be so heavy that it will weigh down the branch. She puts larger ornaments on the inside of the branches and the Hand & Hammer ornaments decorate the tips. This year Hand & Hammer has given us a Gingerbread House, a Church, a couple of reindeer, another unique Santa and several continuations to series already begun. If you don’t have a Hand & Hammer catalog, go to www.Hand-Hammer.com and ask for one.