tannenboing, the modern, spiral christmas tree

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Non-traditional Modern Christmas Décor

Wednesday, November 21st, 2012

I’m donating a tannenboing to my daughter’s school auction this year and the theme colors are pink and orange. So we decided to decorate this year’s modern Christmas tree with non-traditional pink and orange pom poms. (Disclaimer: Zoe’s birthday is in December and she wants to have a pink an orange theme for that too – so I thought I could make the boing look less like Christmas and more like a celebration boing if it has some peppy colors).

I’ve also been dying to try decorating our aluminum Christmas tree with the pom poms. I had a thought that the large size and soft shape would be a nice complement to the brushed aluminum spiral. And, the pom poms are so cheap and it doesn’t take many poms to fill out the tree.

So, here you see our first effort at a pink and orange Christmas tree. Looks modern, and fun, and maybe a bit feminine (which should help a great deal during the birthday party)!

I think we need more poms. I added some of the orange CB2 asteroid ornaments. I also have some white asteroid ornaments that I could add, but I think I’ll just stick with the two colors. The orange looks really great with the uplight under it – so warm! We need to make and add more pom poms.

If you are looking for an inexpensive way to decorate your boing – you might consider pom poms. Really cheap and easy and you can change the colors every year.

Here is a link to a DIY pom pom on Martha Stewart.

Aluminum Christmas Tree with Pom Poms

Aluminum Christmas Tree with Pom Poms

aluminum christmas tree with pink and orange pom pom

aluminum christmas tree with pink and orange pom pom

Modern Christmas Decor with Colorful Poms

Modern Christmas Decor with Colorful Poms

Contemporary Christmas Decor with a splash of color

Contemporary Christmas Decor with a splash of color

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Your modern Christmas starts now

Monday, November 5th, 2012

I was in a shop the day after Halloween and they were already playing Christmas music! I kid you not! I live with Christmas all year long, but even I was shocked about the music.  But let’s face it, in most commercial settings, we do jump right from Halloween to Christmas. Thanksgiving is just a little lunch break in between those two holidays.

I can see that people are thinking about Christmas. Traffic to my site has jumped up dramatically, and sales of our modern aluminum Christmas tree have been picking up. We still have about a dozen of our modern Christmas trees. So if you are looking for contemporary Christmas decor that looks like a sculptural piece of art, then I hope you will consider a Tannenboing.

If you need a little push to help you feel better about buying a boing, here are a few quotes from our clients:

“Dear Michele, today was the day I opened my Tannenboing for the first time. Wow! Your tree blew me away right out of the box before a single ornament adorned it.” - Bob, California

“The tree arrived yesterday. I just unpacked it and it is PERFECT!!! Thank you so much for your vision and innovative idea that has become this beautiful symbol of Christmas.” – Leona, North Carolina

“The Tannenboing was the talk of the town at our holiday ‘Glamour and Glitz’ party – people do a double take as they walk past my practice and see it in the window. I am in awe of the Tannenboing. It was worth every cent I paid for it … AND A LOT MORE.” – Dr. T, North Carolina

“I love my Tannenboing! Our family entertains a lot around the holidays and guests are always asking where we found such a beautiful tree. I love that it stands alone as a modern sculpture but takes on a whole new personality with lights and decorations.” – Kate, Washington

“The Tannenboing is the perfect Christmas tree, minus the mess. It is simple to install, stunning to behold, and folds perfectly flat for easy storage. The Tannenboing never fails to amaze others. We have families who look forward each Christmas to their eye appointment so they can see what novel decorations we’ve come up with for this incredible “tree.” Not only that, but the Tannenboing doubles for a versatile and unique year-round decoration, changeable for every season and coming holiday. It’s a smash with our trick-or-treaters at Halloween!”

We love our Tannenboing! — Dr. E, Washington

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It is beginning to look a lot like the last modern Christmas

Saturday, October 6th, 2012

It is beginning to look a lot like the last modern Christmas here at Tannenboing. 2012 has been the best year for sales so far. Over 30 boings have gone out the door over the last nine months. That leaves just 15 more Tannenboings for the upcoming Christmas season.

I have mixed emotions about selling off the last of our 100 first edition aluminum Christmas trees. Once the remaining 15 Tannenboings have been sold, I’ll be closing up shop for good.

When I first rolled out the Tannenboings in 2009, I’d hoped to build a business around the modern Christmas tree. I ran into a number of interesting challenges, but the one I just can’t overcome is that each aluminum

Tannenboing requires three hours of hand sanding. The boings come off the laser cutter with edges as sharp as a knife. The only way I’ve found to dull those edges is to hand sand them (and each tannenboing has tens of feet of very springy area requiring sanding). All this to say – it is just too labor intensive and expensive to make a boing. So, these are the only 100 tannenboings that I’ll ever make.

We still have some modern, aluminum Christmas trees left. If you are interested in owning a beautiful, sculptural piece of art for your holiday décor, you still have time. Remember, the Tannenboing tree is designed to pack flat for easy storage every year. You can use your unique, modern Christmas decoration for decades to come, and you will know that you own one of only 100 Tannenboing Christmas trees.

If you are interested in purchasing one of the last remaining boings, you can click here to place your order.

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Christmas Display

Tuesday, August 21st, 2012
tannenboing christmas display

tannenboing christmas display

August is not a time of year when many of us find ourselves contemplating our Christmas decorations – unless of course, you are in the Christmas tree business, or if you are tasked with the Christmas display for your business.

I know that business tends to be slow for most companies in August, but around here, things are really heating up. This month, I have had the honor of sending my modern aluminum Christmas tree out to a major designer and marketer of athletic apparel and footwear, an amusement park, and a circus (yes, a circus)! There is also a modern tree going in at Glass Distillery and one on the way to Australia for a well-regarded hotel chain.  In the past, the spiral display trees were sold to Flying Fish and Comet Coffee, so we know that it is something that does well in a restaurant setting.

Many tannenboing buyers tell me that they love that the tree is something that can be stored away easily (it packs flat) during the year and quickly set up for a stunning visual display during the holidays.

I love that tannenboing will be in window displays and Christmas displays all over the globe this year. I also think that it is really fun that our aluminum spiral fits in to all sorts of spaces – from high-end hotel lobbies to child-centric amusement parks. So, if you are starting to think about a Christmas window display for your store, restaurant or hotel, I hope you will consider tannenboing, the modern aluminum Christmas tree.

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Decorating a Modern Christmas tree

Saturday, November 26th, 2011

So, we got our tannenboing up just before Thanksgiving and I enlisted the help of my lovely little elf, four-year-old Zoe. She wanted to decorate the bottom half while I focused on the top section of the boing. Originally, we thought to run a green ribbon down the center of the tree. We’ve done this in the past and really liked the effect.

Elf Zoe decorating the tannenboing

Elf Zoe decorating the tannenboing

We love the shape and colors of the modern CB2 Christmas ornaments and as we added more and more of them, we decided to take the ribbon out. Instead, we used a thinner, nearly sheer chartreuse ribbon to hang a few ornaments down the center. I like how this fills in the center of the tree, and it gives a fuller, more random feel than it does when the ornaments are hung in neat little lines around the edge of the aluminum spiral.

We used the orange, white and green CB2 christmas ornaments

We used the orange, white and green CB2 christmas ornaments

In this image, you may be able to see some of the ribbons we used to hang down the center of the tannenboing.

Aluminum Christmas tree with modern ornaments

Aluminum Christmas tree with modern ornaments

I think my husband is a genius to add the up-light under the tannenboing. It lights the tree and the ornaments so beautifully, and it casts the most dramatic shadows on the ceiling. This is our favorite tannenboing style so far (I found these ornaments on CB2 last year when we were helping Flying Fish install and decorate their tannenboing). I ordered the white and green last year and was thrilled when they offered the orange again this year (they also have a fun teal ornament).

Tannenboing in our mid century home

Tannenboing in our mid century home

I hope tannenboing owners will send me photos of their styled tannenboings so I can share them here with everyone. Tis the boing season!

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Space saving, modern christmas tree

Monday, November 21st, 2011

Only a woman who makes and sells modern Christmas trees for a living would force her poor family to put the tree up BEFORE thanksgiving – for goodness sake. My husband, daughter and I just moved a few months ago to a great mid century home. I’ve been dying to see how our aluminum Christmas tree would look against the bare wooden walls.

My family was so kind to me. My husband and I pulled our flat packed, space saver Christmas tree out of the garage and had the tree up in about 15 minutes (granted, he’s done this a few times now – so he’s a pro). But then, he started playing around with this old can light that we’d put in the living room – and it looks so great! I love the way the up-light really makes the aluminum spirals pop – and the shadows on the ceiling are out of this world. We love it! We haven’t decorated the boing yet (heck, we don’t even have art up on the walls yet) but still – we love the look of our very modern Christmas tree in our warm, old mid century home.

Tannenboing just went up

Tannenboing just went up

Shadows and tannenboing

Shadows and tannenboing

Outside looking in at the boing

Outside looking in at the boing

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Gingerbread Men and Tannenboings – Christmas in Australia

Monday, November 7th, 2011

We are thrilled. Our friends at Comet Coffee in Queensland, Australia sent photos of their gingerbread themed tannenboing. The boing is being used to help the owner display gingerbread dolls and cookies that are for sale at the coffee shop. The re-usable, aluminum tannenboing also suits the company’s commitment to sustainability and will be used for years to come.

Check out these little cuties! Thanks Jane (and Ross) and the folks at Comet Coffee for including us in your green, gingerbread Christmas!

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Hand Crafted Christmas Ornaments on Etsy

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011

I love shopping on Etsy for Christmas ornaments. There are so many fantastic items to choose from. I am especially interested in the colorful paper ornaments as the bright colors and soft shapes look really great with the cool aluminum of the tannenboing Christmas tree.

I saw that recently Etsy wrote a short article promoting one of their crafting events. The article featured some great paper lanterns and had links to other creative paper ornaments. Here are a few of my favorites, with links to the Etsy sellers. Enjoy!

Paper Ornaments

Black and White Paper Star

Blue Flower

Urchins by Kissa Design

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Modern Christmas Ornaments

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

Last year, we fell in love with CB2’s modern asteroid ornaments. We are thrilled to see that they are back again this year, with a twist. Last year they had a great chartreuse green. This year, it is teal. LOVE IT! So great mixed in with the white and orange ornaments.

We loved the ornaments so much, that we recommended them to Flying Fish (the colors were just perfect for their restaurant) and we bought 60 for ourselves as well. Can’t wait to get our modern Christmas tree up this year.

Attached are some photos of the tannenboing at Flying Fish decked out with the CB2 asteroid ornaments. So great!

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Free Range Tannenboings

Monday, October 17th, 2011

We love to see the tannenboings decorated by our customers – thought  you might enjoy seeing a few spiffy modern Christmas trees as well.

We hope that old (and new) clients will send us photos of their modern Christmas decorations from last year, or as they get them put up this Christmas season. It is always so fun to see how they are decorated.

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