Updated on July 9, 2025
Joy. Let us wander into joy. Years ago I scribbled a note to myself that “Job” was one letter away from “Joy”. At that time I had no idea, zero, that I would have the opportunity to experience a dream joy/job that I love at a personalized keepsakes and gifts, family-owned small business where I am technically not… family. Really, I’m not family at all…nor am I one bit Irish. Despite that, they still hired me. Please, read on.
What Does A Regular Day Look Like to Us?
Most mornings I start thinking about the personalized keepsakes when I open my eyes at home. Sometimes, I arrive at the warehouse in the quiet before most of the crew. I process the orders for wedding car ornaments and imagine those brides and grooms full of love and anticipation of their future. Many times there are baby ornaments for names like Josie, Zachariah, or Philip. I picture beaming grandparents who can’t wait to see that sweet child for the first time. Parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents like customers Vicki, Gary, and Lee Ann. I feel their excitement and visualize the hair on their arms popping up as flashbacks of memories raising their own children come into their minds. Just yesterday.
Today, I am personalizing all types of ornaments as gifts: a school bus, a chef, a Beagle named “Cupcake”, a Tabby Cat named “Sunshine”, and unfortunately, memorial ornaments for a life cut too soon and a life very well lived at 92. In my time at MyOrnament, I have personalized many sweet sixteen cake keepsakes for birthday presents, theater ornaments, skiers, and oodles of graduation caps. One of my favorites, of course, was Justin’s “Paid off My Student Loans”...wow! Keep up the great work, Justin!
Why Personalized Keepsakes Matter to US:
Over the years, our business has grown from shopping mall kiosks to a small warehouse space to the much larger facility we now call home to Holiday Traditions/MyOrnament. Well, as I said, the business isn’t really mine. But, some days it feels like it is, as I respond to emergency messages about wedding favor requests and important memorial keepsakes. These moments are critical to you, and after more than two decades in business, we certainly know that. These are your stories, and now they are our stories. It is a privilege for us to play a small part in the events happening with and for you. We thank you for including us to help you celebrate a birthday, an anniversary, or even Halloween with personalized gifts for those most dear to you. Many of you see our Facebook and Instagram mentions along with photos of your purchased ornaments featured in our weekly blogs. You energize us with your clever ornament and message ideas. It is good and healing. Especially, it is Joy.
Just Who is Working on Your Personalized Keepsakes?
The MyOrnament / Holiday Traditions business? Well, it belongs to a family. A family full of ideas and hope. I am an extended part of that. And, so are you. So are the employees like Dana and Stephanie who personalize mementos all year long. Along with them are the many others who return for jammed-packed weeks during the holiday season to create custom gifts that will be cherished for a lifetime. Picture two brothers working hard in the warehouse, but still finding time to assign nicknames to staff, make some of us a daily cup of morning tea, and play practical jokes on their employees. Koaster Karl, as he has come to be called in their heavy Irish accent, works tirelessly putting away inventory, lasering ornaments, engraving coaster gifts, and preparing packages to mail.
Some time ago, I returned from lunch to find my normal parking space decorated with pavement chalk and “The Boss” scribbled across the width of the space. Silliness. Then there's our recycled trophy tribute to an unexpecting team member for a job well done. I honestly don’t know where the trophy came from or why it made the move to our new location a couple of years ago. Nobody seems to know the person whose name adorns the tag. Regardless, we now pass it around our warehouse with wild anticipation as a random employee accomplishes a task above and beyond the normal. Certainly, Ms. J. was surprised when presented with the trophy for flawlessly figuring out a new laser product in record speed. Bragging rights. Seriously, what could be better?
And Finally...
And so it goes at a family-owned, small business. Long hours. Busy days. The satisfaction of building something from the ground up. Their families patiently wait at home while walls for new office spaces are built, clever products are developed, and new website listings are created. Maybe we don’t have the big awards of corporate America, but a custom, chalk-decorated parking spot for the “BOSS” on an average Wednesday is still very okay! In fact, it is priceless. Our friends…our customers, this is hope. Thank you for including us in your story…and for allowing us to include you in ours. This is Joy. So, when you are ready for personalized keepsakes and gifts for you or those you love, know that we are ready to help you create a memory that lasts a lifetime. Certainly, it would be our privilege to customize treasures for those most dear to you. --Your MyOrnament Family
