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Snake Ornaments - Yes, Really!

Updated on October 29, 2015

Good Luck Snakes are Fun, Funky, Unusual Ornaments with Symbolic Meaning

Pity the poor snake! Ornamental is the perfect word for that sinuous body and smooth-scaled skin, but the serpent gets a bad rap in western mythology, ever since that whole Garden of Eden thing...

In other cultures (okay, not so much the ancient Greeks, but lots of other cultures) around the world, the long legless cold-blooded creature is admired and revered. He is a symbol of patience or wisdom or, ahem, aphrodisiac vigor in the bedroom department, depending on who you ask. In fact, the snake is a traditional symbol of good luck for many people, a talisman and a charm.

In the cycles of the Chinese zodiac, our reptile friend comes into his own every twelve years with the Year of the Snake. It's only courteous (and perhaps lucky) to acknowledge the crawling critter on his own designated year, by displaying a decorative replica in your home. For anyone who is born under the sign of the Snake, or for a pet snake owner, a decorative serpent sculpture or hanging ornament is a thoughtful gift.

Image: Swarovski Crystal Chinese Zodiac Snake

Handmade Art Glass Snake Figurines - Handmade Glass Cobra

Handmade Snake Art Glass Blown Wild / Reptiles Animal Figurine
Handmade Snake Art Glass Blown Wild / Reptiles Animal Figurine

Shining Glass Miniature Snake Ornaments in Bright Colors

Handmade Mini 2.5" Blown Glass Snake Figurines Figures Art, Collectible Dollhouse Gift Ideas, Miniature Wild Animals, Tiny Ornament Cool Stuff Decor No.3
Handmade Mini 2.5" Blown Glass Snake Figurines Figures Art, Collectible Dollhouse Gift Ideas, Miniature Wild Animals, Tiny Ornament Cool Stuff Decor No.3
One colorful snake to grace a tabletop? This little fellow, just over 2.75 inches long from head to tail, is made in Thailand by skilled artisans who decorate each one by hand.
 
Handmade Set 2 Snakes Art Glass Blown Wild/Reptiles Animal Figurine
Handmade Set 2 Snakes Art Glass Blown Wild/Reptiles Animal Figurine
Or perhaps a set of two, as snakes like company just as much as the rest of us! Place them among potted house plants on a sunny windowsill, where their bright colors will shine out delightfully among the green leaves like a fantasy jungle in miniature.
 

Snake Ornaments aren't for everyone...

Unless we have a close relationship with some kind of reptile - like the guy I knew growing up who had a boa constrictor as a pet. He actually caused my hometown to pass a special by-law against wearing a live animal as a scarf because he was always walking around town with his pet draped around his neck, freaking out the many many many people who have a phobia about our serpentine friends - it takes an artistic eye to appreciate the sinuous beauty of the serpent's form. But I think you'll agree, when you look at the stunning snake ornaments here in all their variety, that the long legless reptile is indeed a decorative creature.

One Wooden Wiggle Snake - 28 inch
One Wooden Wiggle Snake - 28 inch | Source

Bendy Wooden Snakes

I love the look of cleverly crafted flexible wooden snakes, slim and sinuous.

Twist a few through the branches of a Christmas tree, or let a snake curve around a table lamp.

Wind a decorative serpent among the glassware on your sideboard for a Chinese New Year's party. Tuck a tempting reptile between potted plants on a windowsill...

There's no limit to the ideas for decorating with these pretty wooden snakes!

Also, I'm told they're very popular with stressed-out office workers, who fiddle with their flexible wooden friends while they're tied up on long phone calls. (There are a lot of puns to be made there, but we'll resist, shall we?)

Fair Trade Snake Ornament - Crafted in Bright Cotton Yarn

This colorful cotton-yarn serpent is hand crafted by a single mothers' group in Colombia, part of a fair trade rural employment initiative that helps to give these women the means to take care of their children. If you'd like to learn more about these women and their workshop, visit One World Projects. You can see photographs of workshop director Marisol Medina, some of the women to whom she is able to give honest and creative work, along with other wonderful yard-and-wire sculptures they create for sale, as well as colorful crafts by similar fair trade workshops in other places around the world.

Fair Trade Yarn Snake Holiday Ornament or Home Decor from Colombia
Fair Trade Yarn Snake Holiday Ornament or Home Decor from Colombia
This colorful cotton-yarn snake is hand crafted by a single mothers' group in Colombia, part of a fair trade rural employment initiative that helps to give these women the means to take care of their children. Warm fuzzies and a cute snake ornament, what could be more festive?
 

For Snake Lovers - Snakes are fascinating creatures

Snake with eggs
Snake with eggs | Source

They're so well adapted to their environment, snakes are an interesting study for anyone interested in the natural world. From their cold blood to their efficient winding method of locomotion, to their ability to swallow prey that seems impossibly large, snakes are a bit of a wonder. As children, however, we aren't often taught as much about these highly significant reptiles as we are about the mammals, so there's always more to be learned.

For example, most of us tend to forget that snakes reproduce by laying eggs from which little tiny offspring emerge almost ready to go out on their own. The eggs not like the smooth hard-shelled ovoids of birds that we know and love to eat, however. As shown in this great photograph, the eggs are irregular in shape and leathery. They remind me of illustrators' conceptions of the eggs of dinosaurs and dragons.

Do you like Snakes?

Do you think they are cool or creepy?

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In the excellent documentary video, The Language of Snakes, we get just such a glimpse into the world of snakes. Did you know, snakes are not begin aggressive when they rear up their heads and hiss or rattle? They are feeling threatened and warning us off - when we hear the rattle or see the snake rise up off the ground, we're supposed to run away and leave them alone. It's all a matter of communication!

The more we learn about snakes, the less scary they are - it's like anything else in that the more we understand it, the more interesting and less frightening it will be. Not to mention, all the non-poisonous and even friendly little snakes in the world who are no danger to humans at all... It's just because they are so different from us that we can tend to have, as humans, a somewhat uncomfortable relationship with the lovely legless reptiles.

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