Kimberly's Snowman Collection

I got these mugs one year for Christmas. They are my favorite for enjoying hot cocoa, but they don't fit into my microwave, so for many years I had to heat the water in a separate mug and pour it in once it was hot enough.

After six years (from the time I bought my house until a few months ago I didn't have a stove) I finally got a stove and now I can heat the water in a kettle. Yay for hot cocoa!

In 2003 I got this for Christmas from my mom. When I unwrapped it and opened it I saw that it was full of candies. I went to set it down after admiring it for the required time, and my mom asked, "Are you sure you're done with it?"

I thought it odd for her to say that, so I opened it again. Upon further inspection I saw that the candies were itty bitty teeny tiny individually wrapped Tic Tacs. A rant ensued about how much they paid kids in Taiwan to individually wrap these Tic Tacs that were about half the size of asprins.

As I went to set it down a second time my mom asked again, "Are you sure you're done with that?" After a pause, I dumped the box into my lap.

In the bottom was the rose outline necklace I had seen at Target a few months before and was admiring. I liked it so much that I even called the store back to get the model number and the jewelry counter clerk claimed she didn't have anything like that and pretty much told me I didn't know what I was talking about. It turns out mom had snatched it up before I could get back to Target, it really DID exist, and the jewelry counter lady didn't know what she was talking about.

My mom and I were shopping at a floral center south of town and we saw this ornament in the greenhouse. Never mind the fact that it was the middle of summer, she asked me if I liked it. I did, and she said she'd buy it for me as my 2005 snowman ornament (she buys me one every year).

At the register she was a bit embarrassed to see that the ornament was only $5, seeing as this was my present and all, and then the cashier said it was on clearance for 50% off! So this is my 2005 $2.49 Christmas present.

Around Christmas time in 2005 I was watching a show on how to make snowflake ornaments out of toilet paper tubes. You flatten them, cut them into thin strips, glue them together, and spray paint them. I didn't have any toilet paper rolls but I had a few thicker and smaller wrapping paper rolls. I improvised on the idea and created a little snowman ornament.

I saw this online in 2004 and just had to have it! It was on sale for $5 at a little boutique, and I think I paid another $5 for shipping and handling, but it was worth it. I am going to try to get a better picture of it, it really is adorable!

Mom and I found these in the fall of 2006 at a liquidation center. They were only $1.50 each, so we got the three varieties that we could find. They look great on my mantle in the kitchen (even if at the time it was still 60 degrees outside).

I got this in a prize package from a Ryze network in 2004 or 2005. It's a block of wood all painted up like a snowman, with a cute flannel scarve, button buttons (makes sense, huh?), fabric hat, and jingle bell tassle. And yes, those are feet above its left eyebrow.