I’ve always been nuts about Christmas; both the cultural and religious traditions as well as the decorations. In my family, we always had a traditional Christmas tree full of ornaments. Dad always bought a Douglas fir, because it had short needles and branches far enough apart to decorate all the way to the trunk. My roots are Pennsylvania Dutch and my great grandfather owned an iron foundry in the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania area. We always had a cast iron Christmas tree stand that was forged in the foundry. It had big screws to hold the tree in place (and was painted green, of course!). There are still two of those iron tree stands in the family. Nothing could topple our trees!
The ornaments were (and still are) a wonderful combination of very old and very new. The very old ornaments have been passed down through generations of the family. Many were made in the last century and from Germany. It became a tradition that when someone traveled and came across new and different ornaments, several were purchased to gift around the family that year. In my recent travels, I came across a shop in Texas with absolutely gorgeous ornaments. My favorite color is cobalt blue, and the shop had a style of glass ornaments made in Germany that were a luscious shade of cobalt blue with swirls of white and silver marbling and silver glitter. (See them in the “Cobalt Swirls”) I had to have them. Then I saw a collection of beautiful glass ornaments that came in different shapes and colors and were made in Egypt. Yes, I bought some of those, too. I bought some more by phone after Christmas the following year. I bought enough that the shop owner considered me a good customer. When she later decided to retire, she contacted all the customers she thought would be interested to let them know she would be closing the shop for good. A light bulb went off in my head. Wouldn’t it be great to continue sharing these beautiful ornaments with other like-minded Christmas lovers? So, here I am! I am certain there will be something here that will strike your fancy, be it an ornament or sun catcher or light meter. We take the utmost care to carefully pack and ship your selections so that they arrive ready to add to your own Christmas traditions! Happy Shopping!! – Rita