Oh Christmas trees, mushrooms and more

13 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment

by madsilence in Art, Culture, Popular Culture Tags: Christmas, christmas ornaments, Christmas tree

Oh these are just gorgeous!  Check out this collection of Christmas tree alternatives in steel, paper, even vinyl decals, from where else but the West Coast!

I especially like the PossibiliTree® (cool name), a simple and non-messy alternative to real Christmas trees made of…wood!

These sculptures are aesthetically pleasing and functional year round.  Made from natural wood, they have an environmentally friendly feel to them while maintaining a traditional Yuletide theme.

Photo credit: PossibiliTree

Chiasso’s wire and metal trees in luscious colors are something else again.  These trees made of  powder-coated metal create a definite pop culture, 60s – 70s sort of feel.  Their conical shape made of flat planes pierced with holes representing ornaments remind me of those table-top wooden trees we would assemble every Christmas.  Only these have a sleek, stream-lined effect I find very appealing.

Photo credit: Chiasso.

Returning to a more organic, arboreal-centered theme, Anthropologie’s trees are created from printed pages cut with pinking shears and stacked into a Christmas tree shape just over a foot tall.  And what more appropriate book to use as branches than Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol?

While you’re at it, check out their Holiday Decor including the Shaggy Felt Tree, Looped Wood tree and cool ornaments.

I love the Glittering Whoo Ornament shaped like an owl!  A great gift for an avid birder (hint…hint).

Photo credit: Anthropologie

And speaking of Christmas ornaments, I couldn’t resist purchasing a few new ones this year for the tree.  These tiny glass ornaments, less than an inch tall, are made in Mexico and include a Christmas tree, horn, bell and mushroom.

Now mushroom ornaments have always puzzled me; what do they have to do with Christmas?  We’ve traditionally included mushrooms in our Christmas decorating, with glass mushroom ornaments on the tree and wooden mushrooms in the nativity scene, all made in Poland.  Apparently there is a tradition associated with the Christmas mushroom:

Tradition of the Mushroom. Mushrooms are considered to be a good luck symbol. Associated with nature and the beauty of the forest, finding a mushroom is considered to be very lucky and to mean good fortune is at hand. Mushroom ornaments are displayed on Christmas trees in Germany in honor of the people’s reverence for nature and in hope of good luck in the New Year.

How about an early Christmas gift for all us Leo the lions?  This glass ornament, also made in Poland, brings to mind the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz and Aslan from Narnia:

Finally, here’s a paper and plastic crèche purchased at the Polish deli with a packet of oplatek to share on Christmas eve:

For even more Unusual Christmas Trees

~MS to&w

Advertisement