!–paging_filter–pMy favorite part of Christmas has always been the tree.It’s not only the happy focus of the holiday, but, amid the beribboned bounty arranged beneath, it is a welcome bit of natural beauty.nbsp;Before the hustle of the holiday firmly takesnbsp;hold, my family gathers for our tree trimming (complete withnbsp;Nat King Cole caroling on the stereo and brandy toddies innbsp;our cups). And it’s always a special pleasure when we comenbsp;to the small box containing my grandmother’s ornaments,nbsp;mostly bells, birds and other tarnished trinkets from the ’50s./p
pspanIf you don’t have your own inherited baubles, no worries.br/spanspanYou can peruse the varied strongvintage selection/strong at a href=”http://susanwheelerhome.1stdibs.com“Susan Wheelerbr/a/spanspana href=”http://susanwheelerhome.1stdibs.com“Home/a (Georgetown, 5515 Airport Way S; 306.402.5080;br/spanspansusanwheelerhome.1stdibs.com). Wheeler is constantly on thebr/spanspanhunt for these oldies (golden and otherwise), and her inventory,br/spanspanstarting at $6 each, covers many shapes and eras. “I have beenbr/spanspancollecting these for probably 25-plus years, and it is gettingbr/spanspanharder and harder to find these super-special ones. So I willbr/spanspansnap them up whenever I find them,” she says. “Some of mybr/spanspanfavorites in the store right now are pickles and eggplant-shapedbr/spanspanornaments from 1910 to 1930.” She carries them year-round,br/spanspanbut look for a big bump in bulbs in early December./span/p
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pspanFornbsp;/spanstrongnewer finery/strongspan, trynbsp;/spana href=”http://pier1. com”Pier One Imports/aspannbsp;(multiple locations; pier1.br/spanspannbsp;/spanspancom), which boasts a perky hedgehog, $5.95, and featheredbr/spanspannbsp;/spanspanbird clip ornament $6.95;nbsp;/spana href=”http://nubegreen.com“NuBe Green/aspannbsp;(Capitol Hill, 921br/spanspannbsp;/spanspanE Pine St.; 206.402.4515; nubegreen.com) for locally madebr/spanspanhandblown strongr/strong/spanstrongecycled glass ornaments/strongspan, $25;nbsp;/spana href=”http://surlatable.com“Sur La Tablebr/aspan(multiple locations; surlatable.com) fornbsp;/spanstrongculinary cuties/strongspan, suchbr/spanspanas a piggy chef, $20; ornbsp;/spana href=”http://jonathanadler.com“Jonathan Adlernbsp;/aspan(University Village,br/spanspan206.523.0622; jonathanadler.com) for super swanky stock,br/spanspanranging from anbsp;/spanstrongsnowy owl to a funky dreidl/strongspannbsp;($24 each)/span/p
pspanSomenbsp;ornaments do more than just glitter. This year,nbsp;a href=”http://radko-christmas.com“Christopherbr/a/spanspana href=”http://radko-christmas.com“Radko/anbsp;(radko-christmas.com) debuted his regalnbsp;strongSt. Nicholasbr/strong/spanspanstrongglass ornamentnbsp;/strong($65) to commemorate the life of Seattlebr/spanspanfloral designernbsp;Martha E. Harris, who passed away last fallbr/spanspanfrom non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Proceeds from the seven-inchbr/spanspancollectible (available at a href=”http://marthaeharris.com“Martha E. Harris/a, Capitol Hill, 4218br/spanspanE Madison St.; 206.568.0347; marthaeharris.com) partiallybr/spanspanbenefit the Martha E. Harris Fund at Swedish Hospital./span/p