Sunday, December 05, 2010

December 5th Spotlight: Our International Tree


Delicate and dangling, reflections of light. (Click picture to enlarge) Posted by Picasa

“Thousands of lights were burning on the green branches, and gaily-colored pictures, such as she had seen in the shop-windows, looked down upon her. The little maiden stretched out her hands towards them when--the match went out. The lights of the Christmas tree rose higher and higher, she saw them now as stars in heaven . . .” ~ Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), The Little Match Girl
My brother brought several of these mobile-like ornaments from Germany a couple of years ago. They are intricately die cut of a thin brass and are so light and airy, they move with any small puff of wind and reflect the lights of the tree. This is what we call our "international" tree as it contains ornaments from Poland, Germany, Austria, Norway, and Japan. All the lights are clear or white and sparkling glass stars and teardrops finish off the array of straw, wood, glass, paper and painted egg ornaments. Each time I see these tiny trees I start hearing the refrains of "O Tannenbaum" running through my head.

I tried to find a source of these online and either I am completely off in my Google search or they are not the most common ornaments. A few vendors had the thin cut brass ornaments, but nothing as intricate or complex as these.

(end of post)

7 comments:

Sandra said...

I would love to see the shimmer when the move, this photo is extraorniary and so are the ornaments. incredible is what they are

kenju said...

They are beautiful and while I have seen brass ones before, none so intricate as these.

Ginny Hartzler said...

These are quite lovely, and I wish I could actually see and feel how thin and light. I love the way the rays from the light bulb are apreading out!! The Little Match girl is the saddest story ever!!! Just mention the name and I will CRY Boo-hoo!!!

colleen said...

Can you believe I left Boston where it was dry and warmish and arrived in Virginia to snow?

I hope we can get out and get our tree today.  http://looseleafnotes.com

Simone said...

What lovely ornaments. If you check my blog tomorrow I'll be posting about German ornaments and a store where they might have what you are looking for. Thanks for visiting me.

Rambling Woods said...

Those are really lovely...

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