My Favorite German Decorations

I wanted to share some of my very favorite German Christmas decorations, all of them given to us by my aunt, Inge (Thank you, Inge!). Every year, as I unpack them, they give me such joy! They are so small and so pretty! My absolute favorite is the little angel bakery in the photo above. (Can you see Winslow chewing on a bone in the background?)
Tiny, tiny angels...
...and a pretty Christmas caroling scene.
These are two little figures in the traditional costumes of the Black Forest - I added the pine tree candle.
And another snowy caroling scene, this time on top of a music box, turning and turning to the sweet sounds of Silent Night.
I was trying to find a picture of the Christmas tree I grew up with and found the one below (one of the very few I have) with my dad and our cute little wire-haired dachshund we grew up with.

My parents would put up the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve when my sister and I were little. We had to wait in our room until the we heard a little bell ring three times. When we'd step into the living room, it was always like magic - everything was transformed!

We always used real beeswax candles on our tree, which looked so beautiful and festive, but never lasted long before they had to be blown out. Plus, they had to be supervised very closely. The little beaded wreath ornaments were all handmade by my mom and so pretty. I remember there was one in pearly pink and dark burgundy beads that was my very favorite!

These days, Daniel and I use the little artificial lights on our tree, which I love because I can have them on all the time (the tree is lit as I type this). Plus we can put up our tree well before Christmas and enjoy it for several weeks. I love the house decorated at this time of the year and was happy to adopt the American custom of putting up the tree early!

What are some of the customs you've adapted from when you were little? Or did you preserve all the traditions you grew up with? Or maybe you are creating traditions all your own?