Say Merry Christmas with PEZ

You didn't SERIOUSLY think I would let a holiday pass without bringing you a PEZ update, did you? ;-) Today, I bring you this vintage PEZ ad featuring Santa driving his sleigh with a gigantic Santa PEZ filling his bag:

Santa Claus was among one of the first character dispensers PEZ introduced in the 1950's and has remained popular. So popular, in fact, that you might have quite a few extras laying around (I know we do!). If you should find yourself in this predicament, you might want to think about ways to use these holiday dispensers other than their intended use.

For example, if you attach some baker's twine, they make a fine ornament. Here's how. 

First cut a length of baker's twine, fold it in half, open the PEZ dispenser slightly, and push the loop through the back opening:

Flip the PEZ dispenser over and tilt the head back. You will see an opening toward the back where the head is attached to the rest of the dispenser. Thread the ends of the baker's twine through that opening.

It will look like this from the back when you're through:

Then, thread the tails of the baker's twine through the original loop like so:

Making sure the ends of your baker's twine are even, pull tight to secure, and make a knot in the ends to give Santa a sweet rattail. :-)

If your kids are like mine, the instant they see PEZ on sale after Christmas, they want to buy them. So, we often have additional holiday PEZ. And they all make great ornaments:

Now, if you happen to have say 30 or so Santa PEZ laying around and aren't quite sure what to do with them, here's some inspiration for you:

This wreath is made by Etsy seller SuperVixenBadGirl who specializes in upcycled holiday wreaths. However, this one is one of a kind. If this one gets sold, it looks to be an easy enough DIY project if you've got the PEZ, the time, and the hot glue to put it together. If you're interested in tackling a project such as this, check out eBay or Etsy for purchasing PEZ by the lot rather than one at a time.

And finally, I thought I'd bring you news about this year's PEZ holiday themed dispensers.

This year, instead of a new Santa, PEZ is releasing for 2013 a new snowman dispenser and a penguin dispenser:

They are also releasing for a limited time a dispenser specifically for Target that features their mascot, Bullseye:

And if you've been very good all year long, I BET Santa might bring a PEZ or two for your stocking. They seem to show up every year at our house . . . .