Christmas Ornaments: Glass or Plastic?
 

Its that time of year again, the holiday season is upon us!
My business, HugaPUPs.com, will be a vendor at the Christmas Extravaganza here in Clarkston, WA, and I will be selling all kinds of Christmas goodies! One of the things I will be selling is pet Christmas Ball Ornaments (they will have little paw print designs and things like that), but I have an issue that I think you YorkieTalkers will be able to help me with.
The issue is: Glass or Plastic?
Glass ornaments are nice but aren't always safe for pets as they can break, while plastic isn't as nice looking but won't break when dropped. My family has always used glass ornaments and haven't had an issues, but I know some pets are a little more rowdy then ours (and bigger, lol). I want to go with the one that will sell best but I also want it to be safe for the pets.
So, if you could please answer these questions for me... 1) Do you use glass or plastic ornaments? 2) Have you had issues or close calls with either choice? 3) Which would you buy?
Also, suggestions on what to paint on the ornaments are very welcomed!

Thanks!:D

BTW, I might be putting the ornaments in my Etsy shop depending on if people are interested so if you want an ornament (or 2 or 3 or a dozen, lol) then be sure to let me know!

1) Do you use glass or plastic ornaments?

We use plastic but only because the kids are bigger and they last longer.


2) Have you had issues or close calls with either choice?

Yes, Glass; As toddlers and with a cat we had years ago it was always an issue. There were always less than what we started with. Curently we only have just a few glass ones left.

3) Which would you buy?

Plastic, only because I would want it to last long enough to hand down to the kids one day.

Thanks Dawn for the input!:D

We always use plastic because we use glass when I was younger but we always had a few that broke so when I moved in with my grandparents and we got a new tree and ornaments we both wanted plastic and Callie likes to walk under the tree so I will always use plastic.

We use plastic because they last with busy house holds

I have both, and I think your best bet is to offer both, it will also be a good test for next year to see which sells best. I can say that I doubt I would buy the type you are talking about if they were plastic. Your crowd at he show will be diverse and many people like me will have no children and or also have trees that sit on tables

Good luck and please post pics of what you make

I would also offer both, and also something that could be a good selling point is to offer personalized ornaments, like "............ Name of fur baby's , first Xmas with the year. If you could get someone to do sublimation printing for you, you could even get sell them with the pups picture on them (I had a printing business that I printed on all substrates before my spinal cord injury :-) ), that would be really cute and I bet you could sell a lot of them at a higher price for the custom ones. My tree usually looks kinda retarded because for years with my 3 cats, they have stolen ornaments off the tree, so I now only start decorating it from about 2 feet up lol.

Both.

I use both. Plastic down low where they might get knocked off and glass ones higher up.

I agree with the others who say both. I have always had glass ornaments on my trees. Over the years I raised 2 boys, babysat 7 kids, had 7 cats and now Wallee and only ever had a few bulbs broken when a couple of my cats knocked over my kids 4 foot tree with their collectables. I like the look of glass better but also agree that for many people with children or animals that go around the tree, plastic is much safer.

My cats did the same thing years ago, I had a 7' tree and one decided to climb it. After that I got a very heavy duty cast iron tree stand and they have not been able to knock it over since lol. The tree holder weighs over 50 or 60 lbs :-) it was a great investment haha.

I use glass and do have a few other type ornaments that are plastic. I have never had an issue with either. My dogs don't normally mess with them. I think it would be more an issue if people have cats...or maybe little wild and crazy puppies. I would buy glass, if buying more.

I agree with both and let people choose. I don't have any glass ornaments and wouldn't be able to use them because Miss Kitty would have a field day breaking them. She spends her days knocking things off from counters, shelves and everywhere she can get her paws on.


If it weren't for the cat, I wouldn't mind having glass though. My tree is tall enough off the ground where the dogs can't get to the ornaments and I have no kids. I am sure there are other people who'd prefer glass because they do tend to look better...and if you can have them, why not?!?

I use glass ornaments. I've never had an issue with them unless it's my fault...the dogs have never had an issue, but our tree is up on a little piece of furniture so it's higher than most trees.

Although there are some beautiful hand blown glass ones out their, I'd go plastic or fabric

We use glass, but they go up higher on the tree, and no we've never had an issue with them. This year is going to be interesting though, our male cat loves to sit, or lay under the tree nestled amongst the presents, but none of the cats are having anything to do with Gina, and this will be her 1st Christmas, so it should prove to be an interesting time.
Cheers Quad:aimeeyork

Thanks everyone for your input! I knew the awesome people of YT could help :)
I think I will offer both and see how it goes. Like some of you mentioned, it will be a good experiment to see which one sells better so I know what to offer in the future.

The Yorkies get ornaments every year for Christmas. I like the ceramic ones that can be personalized at the kiosk in the mall. My 2 yorkie trees in the family room are always my favorite to decorate!!! The ornaments that I get from my sister every year are special ordered and are glass... one for every year that I have owned a Yorkie... they go on the mantel!! ;)

Definitely both... Everyone had different tastes! I would probably prefer glass.

:D Yep, and WOOD!!! How very Scandinavian!!! :D Sally + Harry x

I use glass, I've never had any issues with the dogs paying attention to the ornaments. The dogs are more interested in chewing on the the tree branches or drinking the water out of the bottom. I don't have any kids to worry about.

When I was 3 I know that I took a bite out of a glass ornament and then 2 weeks later my 1 year old sister did the same thing.

We used all glass until we had our son. He's 5 now and since we've had him we put the plastic ornaments on the bottom of the tree and the glass towards the top ;)

We use both :)

I use 100% plastic. Not fun stepping on a glass ornament that fell off the tree.

We use plastic and have a few glass ones. It's not our dogs that mess with the tree, but the cats... lol. Luckily we haven't had any problems.

I would totally buy ornaments from your etsy shop, Alora! This will be our first year having a tree together...so no input about glass vs. plastic. I know I won't be putti.g any ornaments towards tje bottom of the tree just incase, plus our dogs would never be left alone with access to it. So glass would be better for me going off of personal preference.

Well then, I will have to see about getting some ornaments in my shop soon so your tree can have a little bit of pup flair to it!;) I'm sure Luma and Rosie would love to have some ornaments of their own :D

For here its actually glass on the bottom and plastic on the top because Joel would grab plastic ones but won't touch glass ones.
Although Rosco is the one you have to watch, he likes to stick his head in the middle of the tree and shake it:eek:

We do a very traditional victorian tree so have all kinds. My pups have never bothered the tree other than to walk under it before the gifts are placed there. Personally I prefer glass bulbs and lots of handmade cloth ornaments.