Once Upon
a Christmas
Ten entries across ten years telling Santa's complete story — from checking his list on Christmas Eve through the long night's work and all the way to relaxing with a mug of cheer on Christmas morning. Every entry a Magic ornament with light and sound, every one requiring the Hallmark Magic Cord. Santa's year, from start to finish, ornament by ornament.
From the List to the Last Mug of Cheer — Ten Years of Santa's Night
The Once Upon a Christmas series launched in 2011 with a specific premise: each ornament would feature Santa Claus in a different moment of his Christmas Eve work, and together they would trace his complete story from start to finish. The series started with Santa checking his list — the administrative beginning of the night, Santa at his desk, a dog playing on the floor, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" playing when connected to the Magic Cord. It ended in 2020 with Santa relaxing after Christmas Eve: boots off, a mug of cheer in one hand, a snow globe in the other, a puppy at his feet begging for attention. "It's mission accomplished for Santa." Nine years of work between the list and the mug.
Every ornament in the series is a Magic ornament — light and sound activated by the Hallmark Keepsake Magic Cord. Santa checking his list glows and plays "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." Santa relaxing after Christmas plays "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." The series covers every stage of the canonical Christmas Eve narrative: the list-checking, the workshop packing, the chimney navigation, the sleigh flight, the rooftop landing, the stocking filling, the tree visit, and the earned rest of Christmas morning. It is a complete story in ten annual chapters, and the 2020 Special Edition — Santa on New Year's Day — is the coda that follows Christmas into what comes next.
"It's 'mission accomplished!' for Santa. Rounding out the Once Upon a Christmas series, this charming ornament features the jolly old elf relaxing after a very busy Christmas Eve. With his boots and hat nearby, Santa gets comfy with a mug of cheer in one hand and a snow globe in the other, while a puppy at his feet begs for attention."
— Hallmark product description, 2020 A Job Well Done · Once Upon a Christmas #10F · Artists: Tom Best, Robert Chad & Jim KemmeMagic Cord Required — All Entries
Every ornament in the Once Upon a Christmas series is a Hallmark Magic ornament — light and sound features activate when connected to the Hallmark Keepsake Magic Cord (sold separately). Without the cord the ornaments are still beautiful decorative figures, but connecting them activates continuous illumination and the musical audio that is specific to each entry. One Magic Cord can power multiple ornaments on the same circuit. If you are collecting the complete series, a single cord can run the whole story.
Checking It Twice — 2011 (#1)
The series begins exactly where every Christmas Eve begins — with the list. Santa at his desk, checking his list, a trusty dog contentedly playing on the floor beside him. Robert Chad, 4.6" H, Magic ornament: connect to the Magic Cord and the lights glow, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" plays. The detail is precise: the desk, the chair, the list, the dog. The starting point of a ten-year story that ends with Santa's boots off and a mug in his hand. The administrative beginning and the earned ending. Both are here.
Shop Checking It Twice — First in Series →
A Job Well Done — 2020 (#10F)
The series ends where every Christmas Eve should: Santa relaxing after Christmas Eve, boots and hat nearby, a mug of cheer in one hand and a snow globe in the other, a puppy at his feet begging for attention. "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" plays when connected to the Magic Cord. 3.58" W × 4.22" H × 3.52" D. Artists: Tom Best, Robert Chad, and Jim Kemme — the finale required three sculptors to close the story properly. The series began with Santa checking his list. It ends with Santa knowing the list is complete, every name checked, every gift delivered. Job well done.
Shop A Job Well Done — Series Finale →Tips for the Collection
-
01Connect all available entries to the same Magic Cord to run the complete soundtrack. Each Once Upon a Christmas ornament plays a different Christmas song when connected — "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" (#1), "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" (#10F), and others throughout the series. On a single Magic Cord circuit, multiple ornaments light simultaneously and each plays its own song at its button. The complete collection connected is the complete Christmas soundtrack.
-
02Display the series in narrative order to tell Santa's complete story on the tree. Checking the list (#1) → the chimney challenge (#3) → packing up (#5) → taking flight (#6) → up on the housetop (#7) → filling stockings (#8) → the tree (#9) → a job well done (#10). In sequence the series reads as a complete Christmas Eve narrative, each entry the next chapter of the same night.
-
03The 2020 Special Edition (QGO1764) — "Happy New Year" — is the series' coda. Released the same year as the #10F finale, the Special Edition follows Santa's Christmas Eve work into the new year. If the numbered series is Santa's Christmas Eve, the Special Edition is Christmas morning turned New Year's Eve — the full holiday season on a single pair of ornaments.
-
04All 9 available Once Upon a Christmas ornaments are at Already Christmas. Eight numbered entries (#1–#10F, with two gaps at #2 and #4) plus the 2020 Special Edition. The Magic Cord is sold separately — one cord powers the complete collection.
Once Upon a Christmas Keepsakes — 2011 to 2020
Magic Cord required (sold separately) · Light & Sound on every entry. Click any entry to shop.
Santa checking his list in 2011 — a trusty dog on the floor, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" playing when the Magic Cord connects. Nine years and nine more moments: the chimney, the loaded sleigh, the flight, the rooftop, the stockings, the tree. Then in 2020 — boots off, a mug of cheer, a snow globe, a puppy demanding attention, "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" in the air. A job well done. Ten entries. One complete Christmas Eve story. All nine available entries here.
✦ Part of our Collection: Hallmark Santa Series, Explored ✦