Heart Shaped Blush Glass Ornament by Cody Foster

A heart, in blush pink glass, which is a simpler idea than most of the Cody Foster shelf and all the better for it. A heart ornament has to carry its shape cleanly or it turns saccharine, and glass is what keeps this one on the right side: the pink has depth to it, and light moving through a glass heart does something a felt or painted wood heart cannot. It is the piece to reach for if you are building a pink Christmas tree, or if you want one soft note in a tree that is otherwise red and green. Good for a first Christmas together, an engagement year, a daughter starting her own ornament box, or anyone who leans girly with their decorating. Hang a few hearts at different depths rather than lining them along the outer branches, and the tree reads fuller. It carries over past Christmas too, on a February mantel or a bare branch in a vase.

How do you arrange ornaments on a Christmas tree? A common approach is to place the largest ornaments deep inside the tree first, then work outward with mid-size pieces and finish with the smallest and most detailed ones on the branch tips. Statement and novelty ornaments read best at eye level, where they are visible instead of lost in the branches.