Christmas trees made of alpaca wool

Photo by @itchyfeetDonica, taken in Arequipa, Peru

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, fellow Steemians! 🎉🎈🎊

When it comes to #Christmas, we have to talk about Christmas trees. But when it comes to Christmas trees, there are much more options than fir, pine, spruce or plastic trees teeming with knick-knacks, ornaments, lights and stockings.🎄

There are various materials out there to create and decorate your tree. #Upcycling is a trendy way that contributes to sustainability. For example, we can repurpose books, logs, cupboards, feathers, glass bottles, coke cans, mixed media, etc., to find value in old objects.

we can connect the materials into the shape of a tree, make it two-dimensional or in an abstract style, or simply draw graphics on the wall.

Here are some photos of Christmas tree alternatives I took in different countries for your inspiration. Let’s get creative in decoration!

祝Steemit的朋友们圣诞和元旦快乐！

说到圣诞节，不能不提圣诞树，而说到圣诞树，却并不是只能用传统的冷杉，云杉，松树或塑料树来挂满各种小物件。还有很多材料，造型可以尝试。对旧材料升级改造不仅物尽其用，同时也很环保。

比如可以用书本，木棍，纸板，羽毛，玻璃瓶，可乐罐等旧物，可以在墙面上画画，可以做成平面和物体相结合的二维体，可以搭成立体树状，也可以试试各种更抽象的造型。

今天我就来发几张在各地拍的材料造型比较特别的圣诞树，大家一起来开开脑洞，看看这些点亮生活的环保创意吧！♻️

The 5 Christmas tree photos below are taken in Plaza de Armas(the central square) in Santiago, Chile. The first one is built out of bicycle wheels. The last four of them are decorated in colorful fabrics oozing with South American Indian charm. The second one is made of straw and is topped off with an Inca cross instead of a star. The last three trees are respectively created by stacking old chairs, shoes and rag dolls.

下面的五棵圣诞树是我在智利首都圣地亚哥老城区的中心武器广场拍的。第一棵是自行车轮搭建的。后四棵都装饰有颜色鲜艳的布料，满满的南美印第安风情。第二棵由稻草编成，顶上不是传统的星星装饰，而是印加十字架。后三棵树分别是用旧木椅，旧鞋和布娃娃堆叠起来的。

Sometimes simple is best. As a fan of minimalism, I love the following four trees:

有时候越简单越好。因为我喜欢极简风格，下面的几种圣诞树也自然成了心头好（按顺时针方向，分别摄于秘鲁利马、德国科隆、智利一渔村卡尔代拉）：

So have you got inspired? Feel the creative juice flowing? Tell me what you think in the comments.

If you enjoyed reading this post, please upvote it and follow me for more! =)

怎么样？各位有没有受到点启发？有没有产生创造的冲动？赶快在评论里告诉我你的想法吧！

如果你喜欢这篇文章，记得点赞关注哦！👍

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Hey Steemians,

Happy Sunday and Christmas Eve! Here is my entry for the #goldenhourphotography challenge hosted by @juliank.

I witnessed this beautiful sunset scene on the way from Dubai to Abu Dhabi.

我在从迪拜到阿布扎比的路上拍下了这落日的场景。

Sunset Between Dubai and Abu Dhabi

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Hey Steemians,

Happy Saturday! Here is my entry for the #smartphonephotography challenge hosted by @juliank.

I shot this photo with my iphone4 on a hot air balloon ride above Cappadocia, a semi-arid region in Central Anatolia, Turkey, best known for its unique moon-like landscape and unusual rock formations. The formation of this strange landscape started during the third geological period, when three volcanoes located on the edges of this region began erupting frequently. Here you can also find underground cities, cave churches and houses carved in the rocks.

I had to get up at 5am in the cold morning, but it was definitely an out of the world experience that I would never forget.

The balloon was gently drifting over the fantastic landscapes, when the orange hued rays of sunrise kissed the fairy chimneys, orchards, vineyards, pigeon houses and cone-shaped rock formations. It was a marvel with dreamlike serenity.

这张照片是我在卡帕多奇亚上空坐热气球时用手机拍的。这是土耳其安纳托利亚中部的一块半干旱地区，以奇特的岩石构造、岩洞和半隐居人群的历史遗迹而闻名于世。地质学上的第三纪时期，这块地区边沿的三座火山开始频繁爆发，逐渐形成这里独特的地貌。由于与月球表面类似，这里也被称为“地球上最像月球的地方”。

虽然早上五点就得挣扎着起床，还冻个半死，但相比这场难忘的奇幻体验绝对值得！

热气球载着我和其他几个乘客在空中缓缓飞行，太阳渐渐升起，柔和橙黄的光线给奇异的地貌镀上一层梦幻的暖色调。在这清晨的静谧之中， 神仙烟窗，圆锥形石柱、蘑菇状奇石，白鸽岩屋等大自然鬼斧神工下的超现实奇景在眼前徐徐伸展开来。

Hot Air Ballooning Cappadocia: An Otherwordly View

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Hey Steemians,

Happy Friday! Here is my entry for the #streetphotography challenge hosted by @juliank.

I’ve traveled quite extensively to over 60 countries and have taken numerous candid street photos, and this one remains one of my favorites. I was walking on a street in Istanbul that day and captured this beautiful loving moment. The street vendor nearby told me this is a Syrian refugee girl who is sometimes seen begging for food on that street, and I was lucky to witness her feeding a cat with the food she just got.

我有幸走过60多个国家，拍过很多大小城镇的街头，而这张照片一直是我最喜欢的街头随拍之一。那天我在土耳其伊斯坦布尔的街头闲逛，目睹并记录下了这温情的一幕。旁边的小贩告诉我这个小女孩是叙利亚过来的难民，有时来这条街乞讨，而我恰好看到她轻轻抚摸着一只小猫，用乞讨来的食物喂它的场面。

A Syrian Girl Feeding A Cat

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Hey Steemians,

Happy Thursday! Here is my entry for the #Colorfulphotography challenge hosted by @juliank.

I took this photo on a street of Istanbul. In Turkey, these colorful mosaic lamps can be found in street shops, bazaars, restaurants, local homes… and are getting more and more popular in countries outside of Turkey. I’ve seen them in the restaurants in Europe, Asia, Latin America…and some people like to integrate these exotic oriental lamps with their home decor.

这张照片是我在伊斯坦布尔街头拍的。土耳其的街头小店，巴扎，食肆，宾馆，当地人家…… 随处可见这种色彩绚丽的马赛克玻璃灯。用这种灯作为装饰照明在其他国家也日渐流行开来。我就在欧洲亚洲拉美等不少国家的饭店里看到过这种灯饰，还有一些朋友喜欢将这些充满东方风情的灯饰用于家装以增添异国情调。

As you can see from the photo, Turkish mosaic lamps are made of colored and geometrical shaped glass pieces. These glasses are grouped to form different design patterns. In the center of most patterns, you see hexagram(star of David), a popular shape on Islamic and Arabic artifacts and mosques. The essential glass making techniques were perfected in the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire.

While another trendy deco style - Moroccan lighting which takes their roots from Moorish and Moroccan cultures, is often confused with Turkish lamps. At first I also made the mistake thinking these lamps and Turkish lamps are from the same region, like some online shops titled Moroccan lamps but are actually selling Turkish lamps, vice versa. But, in fact, Moroccan lamps are mainly made of perforated metal, although they also come with exquisite design in geometrical forms.

如照片所示，土耳其马赛克灯罩上的几何图案是由彩色几何形状的碎片玻璃拼接成的。在这些设计里常常会有六角星，这种广泛用于伊斯兰和阿拉伯建筑及艺术品的图案。玻璃制造工艺在拜占庭和奥斯曼帝国时期达到顶峰。

还有另一种潮流灯饰则来自摩洛哥和摩尔文化。这些摩洛哥灯常常被和土耳其灯混为一谈，我在去土耳其旅行前也没太注意两种灯的区别，以为它们都来自同一地区。我还看到有些网店标题说卖土耳其灯饰，结果点进去一看其实是摩洛哥灯。摩洛哥灯虽然也有精美复杂的几何图案设计，但一般是由金属制成，镂空的图案和光影墙体相结合，创造出美妙的视觉效果。

Turkish Mosaic Lamps

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Hey Steemians,

Happy Wednesday! Here is my entry for the #architecturalphotography challenge hosted by @juliank.

I visited this unique church in the Limburg province of Belgium, before sunset on a crisp spring day, and stayed to capture its beautiful silhouette against the dimming sky.

I once read about this see-through artwork from an architecture magazine, but when I came close to it, I was surprised by how it stood alone on an open field, in the middle of nowhere. Isn’t it a cool way to present art in public space?

这座独特的教堂位于比利时的林堡省。一个春日的傍晚，空气里漫着些许凉意，渐渐地，落日的余晖将纯净的天空染上了缤纷的色彩（我不是要开始写诗。。。只是介绍下这张照片的拍摄背景而已）。就在这一刻，我按下了相机快门，可惜，手有些抖。。。

好，下面开始正经的描述 ;p 我曾经在一本建筑杂志上看到过这个神奇的教堂，但见到实物的时候，还是有那么点吃惊。它就孤零零地站在一片空地上，周围空荡荡的什么也没有。

This platy guy consists of 30 tons of weathering steel, and has a poetic name : ‘Reading between the lines’. It is a collaboration between two young Belgian architects Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh, part of an art project by Z33 House for Contemporary Art in the city of Hasselt ( provincial capital of Limburg, a lovely place I should write about).

这个锈迹斑斑的大家伙由30吨耐候钢建成。插播解释：这类合金钢在室外曝露几年后能在表面形成一层比较致密的锈层，因而不需要涂油漆保护。以corrosion resistance(耐腐蚀) 和tensile strength(拉伸强度)缩写为商标名的COR-TEN最为知名，所以英文常以”Corten Steel”代称耐候钢。

林堡省会哈塞尔特市的当代艺术馆发起了一项公共空间艺术展项目，于是便有了这两位年轻建筑师合作的成果 — 透明教堂，取名为“Reading between the lines”。这个英文说法原表示从字里行（lines）间读出言外之意，而在这里lines也表示建筑中的线条-教堂纵横交错的钢板。

So why “reading between the lines”? Because you can have different interpretations. Depending on your perspective, this architecture can be a church, or dissolves into the landscape around it. (I have photos from other angles too, hmmm, another post required… ) Of course you can also see the whole thing as a huge page and read between the horizontal plates! ; )

How do you read it? Tell me in the comments if you feel imaginative today! =D

为什么叫这个名字呢？因为就像原说法要表达的“从字里行间读出言外之意”，这座有创意的教堂也给你很大的自由解读空间。这种特殊的钢板构造外观，结合周围的环境，在你眼前呈现的景观会随着你站的不同角度而发生变化。

怎么样？你对这座独特的建筑有什么个人解读呢？ 在下面的评论里告诉我吧！

The Magical Church - Reading Between the Lines

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