In a previous post I mentioned one of my favorite chandeliers, the Zettel’z 6 chandelier by Ingo Maurer. Here it is again, accompanied by some other wonderful sources of light that would add beauty and functionality to any home.

These days, I live in a tropical zone with no snow or pine trees, and my beloved horse is just happy memories, which leaves me to get my holiday tree in a different fashion. Since deforestation is threatening the earth’s ecobalance, and I really can’t stand plastic plants, I have been looking for alternatives to the traditional Xmas tree. Below are some of the options I’ve found.

Wooden trees bring a piece of nature into your home. They can be reused and painted and decorated to fit any style. X’mas tree from Sandra Lindner and Green X-mas Tree from Buro North.

Live potted Xmas trees will make your home fragrant. Get a live rosemary tree or start a tradition by growing your own Xmas tree from scratch.

Shiny metal tealight holder Xmas trees will brighten your season and provide a place to hang your Xmas ornaments. The Estilo stainless steel tealight tree and Nickel plated tree tealite holder are great options.

Xmas tree wall stickers is a great modern alternative for rooms with limited space. Artsy vinyl Xmas tree by Phoebe Washburn and vinyl Xmas tree by Marilyn Minter. The Xmas tree wall graphic decal 1 and Xmas tree wall graphic decal 2 from Etsy comes in lots of different colors.

Something to consider for next Xmas?

Here are some of my picks for this Halloween, trying to walk the fine line of wacky, tacky, and tasty. If it’s too late for this year’s party, you might be able to pick up end-of-season bargains for next year’s bash!

Trick or treat?

From top left: skull candles, Murano Alzate deep black glassware, Skull cocktail shaker and glass, bleeding candles, skeleton yard flamingos, and bone soaps.

From top left: Haunted Chocolate Castle, Bat-suckers with glow sticks, Costume Kid Cookies, Chocolate Skulls, and Chocolate Coffins.

Write it on the Chandelier

Ingo Maurer’s Zettel’z 6 chandelier has been on my wish list for a long time. Why anyone haven’t bought it for me yet is a true mystery (hint, hint..). This wonderful chandelier includes 40 printed and 40 blank sheets of rice paper. In other words: you can dress this light fixture with your favorite poems, love letters, pencil drawings, etc. What a wonderful way to leave a message to your honey!

Write it on the Wall

A $1200 chandelier is of course not the only way to leave a message in your home. Chalkboard stickers are somewhat cheaper and can look great in your home office, your kitchen, a playroom, or in the hallway. They come in lots of different shapes and colors, and can definitely be decorative as well as useful.

Write it in the Shower

We have all written messages with our fingers on the bathroom mirror after a hot shower. Chances are, not all of these messages were ever read by others. Did you know that you can use your bathroom mirror as a white board and leave more permanent and visible messages using dry erase markers or Crayolas? If you don’t want to mess up the pretty reflection of yourself in the mirror you can put up one of these frosted glass white boards next to it.

What if you need to take notes while you’re in the shower? (Just admit it, you can get some pretty amazing ideas while showering.) The erasable shower note tablet is the solution to that problem. I’m pretty sure you didn’t know you needed one… but think about it.

Say it with a Bean

Here is a perfect solution for those of you who don’t mind it taking 1-2 weeks for your message to be read: the message bean!

“…each magical Message Bean grows with an actual word lasered onto one side and an image on the other. Simply remove the foil top and bottom of the can (for drainage), and add a 1/2 cup of water to the enclosed soil — in just 1-2 weeks, the bean will poke through the surface, revealing the special message! The bean then sprouts into a small plant that can be kept in the container or replanted. A simple and original way to send a greeting.”

The message beans are available in Happy Holidays (with two stars), Love (with a heart), Happy Birthday (with a musical note) and Thank You (with “Thanks” in Japanese).

Say it the Geeky Way

Us uber-geeks are all wishing we could leave holographic messages like princess Leah in the original Star Wars movies, but until these are commercially available (which they will be, like all good science fiction ideas), we will have to resort to less impressive means of communication like the WavyWand and InfoGlobe.

Say it with M&M’s

I love M&Ms, and my better half, the wonderful Mr A, cannot get enough of them. On top of this my good friend, the lovely Miss T, has inside connections in the Mars company, and keeps feeding our addiction with new and exiting beta flavors of the drug of our choice. Could it possibly get any better?

Yes, it can! You can get m&ms in the color of your choice with your own personal messages on both sides. It’s the perfect valentines day gift, birthday gift, xmas treat, wedding treat, etc. So if you don’t want to spend the money buying me the Ingo Maurer chandelier, then at least get me some candy!

Say it with a Toast

I suspect the following devices were invented right about the time when the first virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich was sold for their weight in gold on ebay. These are toaster/printers which allows you to print messages and images on slices of bread while toasting them. Maybe not the greatest way of leaving a message since the receiver of the message would have to be around to enjoy the toast while it is warm (I’m not sure how excited I would be if someone left me a cold toast), but I can see it being a fun way to teach your kids how to read or to just liven up the Sunday breakfast with a dirty joke.

Leave me a comment if you know of a decorative or fun way to leave a message!