ANTWERP, Belgium (AP) 鈥� Getting ready for the holiday season has never been stressful for Christel Dauwe 鈥� after all, her holiday period lasts all year long in her ornament shop in the Belgian city of Antwerp.
Her collecting began in her teenage years, and she now has more than 64,000 ornaments in her personal collection and another 18,000 displayed in her shop, the Christel Dauwe Collection.
鈥淢y personal wish is to have a Christmas museum, where ornaments and the idea of Christmas can be on permanent display,鈥� she told The Associated Press. But until that day comes, her small shop uses every corner to display its vast inventory.
Its wares include birds of every feather, fruit arrangements, cars, angels, snowmen and other figurines, ranging from a few euros for a wood laser-cut Cathedral of Antwerp to more than 500 euros ($580) for a special ornament of Alexander the Great on horseback.
The store began 35 years ago as an antiques shop, selling a few ornaments on the side, but Dauwe wanted to try selling more.
On the suggestion of a Polish au pair, Dauwe and her husband traveled to Poland and found a factory that could produce exactly the ornaments she wanted. The only catch was that 200 pieces of each design had to be ordered at a time.
They returned home deflated.
鈥淎fter second thoughts though, we decided to order 20 shapes of 200 each, and one day they arrived — all 4,000 of them. We gave some away and the rest we put in the shop and, well 鈥� That鈥檚 the story from there,鈥� she said.
The original Polish factory still supplies many of the shop鈥檚 ornaments, in addition to 32 other European companies.
鈥淭here is an ornament here for everyone. We鈥檝e had people come in who say they have a new pet or even a new car and we try to match an ornament to them. In the end the goal is not to have some kind of posh tree decorated all with the same colors and Christmas balls. The goal of ornaments is to make you smile,鈥� she said.
Some ornaments are more personal. And one year there was an ornament of Christel herself, designed by her husband as a surprise.
She鈥檚 been asked to provide ornaments for weddings and other events as well.
As far as having Christmas all year round, Dauwe says she is never bored with it. Twice a year she goes around the shop and dusts each ornament individually. She has met people from all over the world, and entertains die-hard locals who stop into the store just for a morning chat.
鈥淭here are two ways to go with Christmas. It鈥檚 either the nostalgia of the past or the hope for the future,鈥� she said. 鈥矵ope is what is the most important to me. It鈥檚 what keeps you going.鈥�
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