Galena, Illinois · Final Batch

The Window Tree

Hand-Bent Wire Tabletop Tree

For thirty-one years Nell Brauer has bent these at the same bench in Galena, Illinois: a table at the holiday market, one shelf in a general store on Main Street, and a box going out in the mail to people who found her. A little over four thousand trees.

This is the last batch she's making for sale.

What Nell does to each one

• Bends the wire by hand into its spiral, turn by turn, on the same form she's used for decades
• Winds the light strand inside the spiral, so the bulbs sit behind the drops instead of in front of them — the part most people get backwards
• Hangs all 18 faceted acrylic drops individually, so no two sit at the same height on the same turn
• Sets the star last

The wire, the drops, the LED strand and the base are sourced. Everything after that is her bench.

Specifications

Batteries not included.

Why it runs on batteries

Because the spot you actually want it in has no outlet. The sill above the sink. The hall table. The top of the bookcase. The shelf in the guest room where the grandkids sleep for two nights in December.

Nell spent years hiding extension cords under fake snow in store windows, and took the cord out of the problem on purpose. It also means the tree travels: carry it to the dinner table, carry it back to the window afterward.

Where people put them

• Front window, facing the street — the old habit of leaving a light on so someone walking past knows you're home
• Kitchen sill, on in the dark at six in the morning
• Hall table or entryway, the part of the house you walk through most and decorate least
• Guest room, for the two nights a year someone sleeps there
• Dinner table, then back to the window when the plates are cleared
• Mantel or bookshelf, where the drops pick up whatever warm light is already in the room