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Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten we are still in the month of May and I am not itching for Christmas or Thanksgiving or New Year’s or any of the other winter holidays to return any time soon. What I am doing consciously is applying a lesson I learned last holiday season when I went about looking for unique, English and/or European handmade tree ornaments: They were hard to find. Correction: I found them, there were many, but they sold out quickly. 🙂
In an effort to plan ahead as I begin to personalize my Christmas/winter holiday tree, I wanted to share with you a handful of companies to save in your Favorites folder for exactly the same shopping reasons. Many of the companies or brands listed below currently do not have their holiday selection stocked . . . but they will in a matter of months.
In an effort to plan ahead as I begin to personalize my Christmas/winter holiday tree, I wanted to share with you a handful of companies to save in your Favorites folder for exactly the same shopping reasons. Many of the companies or brands listed below currently do not have their holiday selection stocked . . . but they will in a matter of months.
Handcrafted glass ornaments intricately painted by European artisans, these really are the ultimate Christmas decorations. Rest assured, these ornaments will delight old and young alike, purchase and keep as a treasure to be brought out each year during the holidays.
Fortnum & Mason’s Christmas Shop
Look for F & M’s Christmas Shop to open up in September. Most people deck the halls sometime between the middle of October and the start of December. But not Fortnum & Mason. “We start a little earlier than that. Here at Piccadilly, preparations for the all-important festive season begin in earnest in July, and our Christmas Shop on Third Floor in Piccadilly opened in September.”
Playful, affordable, many British-inspired, John Lewis & Partners will have a wide array of traditional as well as contemporary baubles and ornaments for your tree.
American Amanda Brooks now calls Oxfordshire home and she makes her home quite cosy and beautiful. Featured many times around the web, it is her shop Cutter Brooks which offers her unique and much sought after aesthetic tastes. While the Christmas ornaments are not available now, they will be and they will sell out quickly.
Last year, it was her holiday mushrooms (seen on her outdoor tree below) that were the hit of the season (scroll through the IG post below to see the ornaments up close). While an investment, picking up an ornament or two from her collections will, I have a feeling, tickle your holiday festive cheer.
Find traditional-style baubles to quirky hand-embroidered decorations, an array of unique ideas to create a festive centerpiece for the winter holiday season. Last year Graham & Green’s tartan collection (seen below, left-side) was a smash favorite. I look forward to seeing what their 2021 collection will offer.
Handmade by local Brits, many of the ornaments can be personalized, and each one can be shipped for free in the UK. There are still oodles of ornaments available in this off-season, and no doubt more designs will be available when autumn and winter arrive.
If you know of a preferred company that is not on this list, please do share. 🙂
I love the Peter Rabbit one! I have several British ornaments, double decker bus and tea cup and saucer included. I must take a peek at those mentioned sites. I wandered over to the tea set sites from the prior post..needless to say, I am going to (hopefully) recieve multiple emails letting me know beautiful pieces are back in stock! Thanks for the suggestions!
Not in High Street! The VW Beetle with the brown paper packages on top is fun, irreverent, and charming!
Love this entire collection.
I hadn’t thought about Christmas ornaments since 2020 but they were fun to see. I started collecting ornaments from Europe when I was a child and still have most of them. They are so unique and always bring back great memories. I now gift one or two to my grand nieces, 5 & 7, each Christmas to continue the tradition. I will enjoy checking out the sources you posted.
It’s not a big name brand, but fairly local to me is a garden centre with a big indoor shop which has lovely restaurants and Cafes called Bents. At Christmas that have fabulous Christmas tree displays, they prepare a room and Christmas tree on various styles / designs, and around that tree will be all the ornaments you can buy in that style. Each Christmas my mum, sister and I visit to look at all the trees, and buy an ornament or 2 to add to our own trees. It’s a wonderful Christmas tradition and they have some beautiful ornaments / decorations. I’ve built quite the collection over the years !
I can definitely see a place on my tree for these!
The VW with the packages is just darling. I have a few ornaments I purchased while in London several years ago. I enjoy hanging them on my tree and remembering the trip.
My favorite shop in London is Liberty. They always have a wonderful Christmas area on the third floor, full of ornaments many with a distinct Liberty pattern . They will also ship worldwide.
Beautiful! I love how cute the petter rabbit one is.
Whimsical British style Love them all .I love Not On The High Street for indiviuality Graham & Green not just for Xmas decorations but for home deco as well. sumptuous lighting velvet and lots more .I agree with Joanne Liberty’s is fabulous at Xmas .I also like Designer’s Guild for original designs .Shannon you should take a look at their merchandise. The owner/designer Tricia Guild is the Queen of fabrics.
A Christmas ornament is one of my favorite souvenirs to purchase whenever I travel anywhere, near of far! They bring up so many good memories each December. Another good souvenir is a tea towel. Useful, easy to pack, and unbreakable! So looking forward to travelling again this year! Next month is Iceland – a belated high school graduation gift for my son. Can’t wait!!
Fortnum & Mason’s Champagne Butter sounds wonderful!
That mushroom tree is stunning!!!! I do a French themed tree every year and I love it. Might have to have a play around with a smaller British themed tree for my sunroom! Thank you for these super sweet ornament ideas!
It’s never to soon to admire beautiful Christmas ornaments.
I pick up my decorations when I travel and so when we dress the tree it’s nice to remember where we bought it. I love the Christmas shop in Edinburgh which is open all year around. Recently I purchased some decorations from Elizabeth Harbour on Etsy as she does lovely wooden pieces. I’m going to check out some of the recommendations here though as they’re new to me.