Croissant Ornament - Medium

There is, and this one is available directly from Chive here, in a hand-blown glass finished entirely in browns. My uncle Tobias received his without warning and inspected it under the reading lamp he uses for the newspaper, which is the only lamp in the house he trusts. It passed, and he said so once before moving on. Once was enough.

It does the job, and the reason is slightly bleak. A secret santa gift lives on a desk until March because nobody knows the etiquette for taking a Christmas ornament home in January, and this one looks deliberate sitting there rather than abandoned. Tobias kept his out until Easter and said it suited the shelf. It did.

It is a good gift for somebody who is particular in a quiet way and does not want a fuss made. Tobias reads the newspaper front to back, including the sections he objects to on principle, and will not discuss any of it before nine in the morning. Nobody has ever established why nine. Asking is discouraged.

Yes — hand-blown glass, hand-painted, worked in six separate shades of brown that are laid wet on dry so each fold keeps its own edge instead of blurring into one flat mass. Tobias held it at arm's length, turned it a single time, and called it tidy. On his scale, tidy is the top. There is nothing above it.

It stands 3.5 inches tall and 2.5 inches across, which puts it in the middle of the range and makes it easy to place. It sits nose out on a branch rather than hanging flat, so the curve reads properly from the front. Tobias rotated his until the shading faced the room. Then he left it alone entirely.

Keep it wrapped and keep it away from direct heat, because the shading is the value here and prolonged warmth is unkind to a painted surface over many years. Tissue and a rigid box will do. Tobias stores his in the original carton with a note inside recording the year it arrived. He does that with everything, and it is not a joke. Never has been.

It works best beside pieces that need company rather than pieces that dominate — the smaller, quieter subjects that would look thin on their own but hold together as a group. A single brown object alone on a branch looks like a mistake. Tobias arranges his in threes without knowing why. He denies arranging anything.

It is packed to survive the post rather than to be handed over as it arrives, so expect protective materials and a plain outer carton with no decorative finishing. Almost everyone wraps it before giving it. Tobias wraps in brown paper and string and has done so since long before it was fashionable. He is aware it is fashionable now. He is irritated.