Many china and porcelain manufacturers offer Christmas ornaments for sale to commemorate the holidays, and many of these are dated with the year they are issued. Often these dated ornaments are part of series, with one offered every year, allowing the purchaser to spend a reasonable amount of money in any given year, but to accumulate a nice collection of porcelain ornaments over time. Others are different each year and provide a nice assortment of ornaments over time.

Another focus of dated ornaments are the commemoration of significant events in the ornaments owners’ lives, like Weddings and first homes. New babies are particularly popular events for which special ornaments are made. Usually purchased as gifts for the parents, they can be the beginning of ornament collections that others begin adding to each year.

Here are some of the porcelain ornaments available for 2011.

Belleek

Belleek has a Baby’s First Christmas in the form of a Teddy Bear, and a couple’s first Christmas ornament.

Bing & Grondahl

B&G has a drop ornament, decorated in blue on blue as is their signature ornaments and commemorative plates and figurines..

Danbury Mint

Danbury Mint has an interesting Celtic Heart ornament for 2011, and a German ornament in the form of a building decorated in blue on white with red and green accents.

Goeble

Goeble, maker of the Hummels, has a Hummel bell, a Hummel figurine ornament as well as an angel bell and a regular bell ornament for 2011.

Lenox

Lenox is one of the major players, if not the major player, in the dated porcelain ornament world. They have a number of continuing ornament series as well as commemorative ornaments.

The commemorative ornaments include: Baby’s First Christmas in the form of a flat baby buggy, a 3-D rattle ornament, a 3-D Winnie the Pooh ornament and a flat rocking horse ornament. For the bride & groom, there is a bride’s cake ornament, a flat wedding bells ornament, and a first home ornament in the shape of a house.

In their continuing series of ornaments, there are also flat and 3-D ornaments. In the 3-D selection, there are the spire ornament, the pierced ornament, a Christmas tree, a bell, a Jewels bell, a ball ornament, an angel, two Santa Claus figures, Tinkerbell, Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, a nutcracker, and, finally, a moose.

The flat ornaments include a snowflake, a gingerbread man, a snowman, a gift package, and a ribbon-form wreath. Lenox easily takes the prize as the top dated Christmas ornament manufacturer.

Lladro

Lladro has a dated bell and a ball ornament for 2011.

Precious Moments

Precious Moments has a Santa ornament, a penguin ornament, Baby’s First Christmas with either girl or boy, an angel, a ball and/or figurine ornament with the same figure, and a couple’s first Christmas ornament specifically for 2011.

Royal Copenhagen

Royal Copenhagen’s additions for the 2011 dated ornaments consist of a cat figure, and a drop ornament decorated in their signature blue on blue style.

Royal Dalton

Royal Dalton has used their Royal Albert Old Country Roses on their 2011 bauble ornament. There is also an Old Country Roses Figural of a train engine.

Spode

Spode has a couple’s first Christmas ornament, a Baby’s First Christmas, and a new home ornament. Their regular in-a-series ornaments are a bell, a reindeer and a spoon ornament.

Wedgwood

Wedgwood is offering a Wedgwood blue and white snowflake, a house ornament, Baby’s First Christmas inn the form of a small carousel, available in pink or blue, a blue jasper ornament and a couple’s first Christmas in the form of a wedding cake. Without a year identified on the ornament: an iconic teapot, a cup and saucer ornament, a white luster Snowflake ornament, ball shaped ornaments with a Sleigh Ride, the Nativity, Santa in Flight, and Skating Pond, a white Snowflake ball ornament, and flat cameo ornaments with Santa (red background), Tree (dark green background), Snowman (dark gray background) and Madonna and Child (light blue background).

Dated ornaments can make wonderful Christmas presents for those who already have plenty of sweaters and ties. They are special not only in the year they are given, but in the years following, as they are unwrapped and put out each holiday season. If you are looking for a gift for someone who has everything, consider a dated Christmas ornament.

See some of these 2011 ornaments.

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