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Our Picks for Glamorous Ornaments
Make use of traditions old and new to brighten your tree this year
This article originally appeared in the December 2013 issue of Seattle magazine.
!–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
pnbsp;/p
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
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