Christmas Day, my way

Deck the halls with something different

Staffers at chic Ravenswood boutique Hazel (1902 W Montrose Ave, 773-769-2227), offer suggestions for spicing up your pad for an orphan holiday party:

• Appalled by the idea of chopping down a tree only to throw it away month later? Try decorating a coatrack instead. “There’s no mess from a real tree, and the coatrack is functional year-round,” says in-store visual merchandiser Marissa Vanden Bout.
• You can even do away with a tree altogether and simply hang ornaments from the ceiling. “Attach metal wire from the ceiling by hooks,” says Vanden Bout, “then tie your ornaments at varying levels from the grid. The effect looks great [when seen] outside of a main window.” Note: Hard-to-reach ornaments will also keep kitty off your shit list.
• Bring Frosty to life without a white Christmas. With the help of water, the Magic Snowman ($4.50 at Hazel) grows nontoxic, white crystals in the shape of a snowman and even comes with a scarf!

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