Quilty-Louise

Many (20+) years ago I had a friend who's family had this tradition
of putting a "pickle" (not a real one but one that was hand made
out of fabric or felt don't remember now) in the Christmas tree,
the concept was who ever found the pickle in the tree would get
a special gift.

What made me think about this was that on Embroidery Library
they have a FSL pickle. Pretty much has the same "story" about
the design (personally I thought it was something my friends mom
dreamed up guess not).

So my question is have you ever heard of this? do you put a pickle
in your tree? Will you share your stories if you do?

I don't put up trees anymore mainly because I have cats that would
LOVE to wreck havoc with it. Not to mention I just don't have room
for a tree.

BellaBoo

I think it's a German tradition. My neighbor gave me a pickle ornament when my kids were little to hide in the tree. We usually forget to look for it and I find it when I take the tree down. LOL

owlvamp

Yes it is a German tradition. I have a pickle ornament. They have them at the dollar tree now. You hide it int he tree and the first one to find it opens up the first gift. Last year I hid it in the tree and we all forgot about it until we unwrapped the last gift.LOL

QuiltedCello

Yup, German tradition. I have several, one very, very special glass ornament from my "real" mom (who took me in at 18) and it's very well protected and always in it's little spot that can't be reached by cats or little rowdy boys, then a collection of felt and cheaper types. I have a very tacky silver fake tree that gets covered with pickle ornaments. Because I don't have the desire for a big tree, and why not

Mariposa

It is a German tradition. I do have a glass one. Sometimes we forget too~

nygal

My sister's friend does it. I'm not German so no pickles on our tree.

tessagin

A friend of mine is from Germany and when she went to Germany sadly upon the death of her mother, she found the pickle that her mother used to put in their tree. She made it out of cloth and put a fresh sprig of dill in it along with a small locket that had a heart in it. She will not be putting a tree up this year and is going to pass it on to her DD for their new DGS who is only a couple months old. She has also added another small locket that has her DM and DF photos in it. I thought that was a super idea.

nativetexan

well, isn't that cute? If I put a tree up I'd get one for sure. but my hubby is a bah-humbug kind of guy.

lauriejo

Although my mother's family is German, I never heard the pickle story until I received a glass as a gift when I was an adult. We do hang it every year, but just because it's so pretty.

mary quilting

It is a German tradition. I do have a glass one.