Meet a Christmas-Obsessed Abstract Painter Who Designs Custom Nutcrackers

Cassie Birchette is an accountant, abstract painter, Christmas crafter and creator of Colorfully Cassie, a brand and online shop where the Atlanta maker sells her paintings and one-of-a-kind, handmade nutcrackers. Take a tour through Cassie's studio and home decorated for the holidays, and see how she turned a pastime into a successful business.

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By: Jessica Yonker

Show: HGTV Handmade

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Photo By: Tomas Espinoza

Colorfully Cassie

Cassie Birchette is a multi-talented certified public accountant by day and artist by night, dipping her brush into everything from painting to bedazzling in her Atlanta home. She’s also the creator of Colorfully Cassie, her happy, vibrant brand and storefront where she sells a rainbow of her very own abstract paintings. A lover of all things Christmas, you’ll also find a collection of thoughtfully designed, hand-painted nutcrackers available for sale on Cassie’s website.

Cassie wasn't always known for her artistic side. In fact, she admits she never really considered herself an artist (and definitely not a crafter) until she started painting and the creative bug bit hard.

Colorful Roots

Cassie comes from a family of artists. One of her sisters is a graphic designer, and the other is a makeup artist and photographer. So maybe it was destiny that when Cassie was looking for a new hobby after moving away from family in her Boston hometown to live with her now-husband in Hartford, she picked up a paintbrush. She took an abstract art class, which she says woke up her artistic side. And as Cassie continued to develop her painting skills and style, people took notice. “People starting asking, ‘Are those for sale?’” she says. As interest grew, Cassie was able to begin selling her paintings and start her business, Colorfully Cassie. Her art was also featured in galleries in Hartford, and she began painting out of a studio space that became a "place of peace" for Cassie.

In early 2020, Cassie relocated with her husband to his hometown in Atlanta. Cassie continued painting and selling her work while the couple settled in, moving into their current home later that year. Their new place gave Cassie the space and opportunity to design her own home studio for her creative endeavors. And while Cassie has no plans to quit her day job just yet, painting and crafting has allowed Cassie to explore the full spectrum of her interests.

Express Yourself

Cassie’s vibrant, layered paintings are influenced by the Abstract Expressionism movement of the 1940s and 1950s, which saw artists like Jackson Pollock creating expressive, emotional works that were often made using unconventional methods. “I think what I love most about painting is there's no restrictions,” she says. “I love that there's no rules. I love that there's no right way to do it. It really could be anything that you want it to be. And it's just amazing how it could touch different people and ignite certain emotions in different people.”

Everything Goes

Cassie also takes this freedom of expression, no-rules mentality into her holiday decorating each year.

What Other Holidays?

Cassie’s favorite holidays are “Christmas, Christmas and Christmas. I think all the other holidays want to be Christmas,” she jests. “Like Halloween trees? OK. That's cute, but it's Christmas. All the decor you see in the stores are spins on Christmas decor.”

Decorating All the Way

Over the years, Cassie has built up a sizable collection of Christmas trees, ornaments and other decorations. She says she “really started going crazy” once she had her own space to decorate. In fact, these photographs only capture a portion of her collection. In 2021, she put up six Christmas trees.

In the Beginning

“It started with just one tree," she says. "I had one, lone pink tree. I can't believe I used to only have one tree.”

Christmas Maximalista

“But I filled it to the max with all the ornaments I [could],” she says. This is one of her favorite things about Christmas decorating: “I love the excess. A lot of times people will say, ‘Oh, that's too much. That's too cluttery.’ Not for Christmas. More is more. There's no limits to what you can do, and it's just so fun. When I turn a Christmas tree on and the lights turn on, I get so happy.”

Black Santa Collector

Almost like a right of passage, a shared commonality between many Black families around the holidays is a Black Santa decoration: Step into a Black family’s home around the holidays, and you might find a Black Santa tucked among the decor. Step inside Cassie’s house, and you’ll find dozens.

Hunting for Holiday Representation

“When I had that one tree, I had a really hard time finding ornaments of color,” she says. "So any time I would find a ballerina or a Santa, I would just buy it because it was so rare. And so it kind of became like a mini sport for me.” Now, Cassie’s collection includes everything from ornaments and blow molds to plushies and coffee mugs, all in a variety of Black skin tones.

Mirror Effect

“I wanted what was on my tree to represent what I look like, and that was really important to me,” she says of the collection of Black Santas, Black Mrs. Clauses, Black mermaids and an electric Black Santa that climbs up and down a ladder. “Eventually, I had enough Santas to have a [Black] Santa tree.”

We Love a Good Theme

Her Christmas tree design portfolio also includes a Black ballerina tree, a Barbie tree and an under-the-sea, mermaid tree. “I probably spent two weeks searching the internet high and low to find Black mermaid ornaments.” When she got married in 2017, she collected bride ornaments. “I have a Black bride Barbie that was a Millennium Barbie. I'm embarrassed to say how much I paid for it.”

Queen B on the Tree

Look closely at Cassie’s Christmas decor and you’ll also spot a familiar face: Beyoncé. Unlike unfortunate (but meme-worthy) attempts at ornaments designed after people of color, Cassie says she likes that this ornament gets the skin tone right. “And that's another gripe I have about when companies decide to give us a Black Santa,” she says, “The color is not right. Santa is ashy, or it’s like grayish brown. The prototype was not Black.”

50 Shades of Black

“I like when I find Black Santas that have color, that have character, [or if] they’re wearing something funky,” she explains. “Black people come in color, and we have personalities, and we like bright things. And so when I see that, I have to have it. It’s reflected in my nutcrackers as well. We come in different shades. We have yellow and red undertones, not gray.”

Papa Noel

If you love Christmas as much as Cassie, you might even spot a familar face among the decor: Papa Noel, a character from holiday and home decor shop Glitterville and product pick from Oprah's Favorite Things 2022. Along with the coffee mug, Cassie also has a collection of ornaments and other products from Glitterville in different skin tones.

Buy It: Papa Noel Cookie Jar: Amazon, $118.40

Cassie's Christmas Crafting Party

Cassie’s nutcracker business was born out of a holiday crafting party. Around the holidays, Cassie would gather with friends and family to make gingerbread houses, design wreaths or paint ornaments. One year, Cassie selected painting nutcrackers as the craft. Finding enough unfinished nutcrackers was a project itself, and after the party, she had a few unpainted nutcrackers leftover. She customized them and gave them away as gifts that year — one in UNC Chapel Hill blue for her mother-in-law and another in yellow for her grandmother-in-law.

Buy It: Estelle Stemware: Shopbop, $85

A Side Hustle to the Side Hustle

Cassie enjoyed the process so much that the following year, Cassie began selling custom nutcrackers out of her Connecticut studio. Like many artists during the time, Cassie found herself suddenly slammed with orders in 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many people found themselves at home reevaluating their spaces and what they loved. “They just blew up more than I ever could have imagined,” she says. “I wouldn't have ever thought people would know me more from my nutcrackers than my paintings.”

Inspiration Everywhere

Anything could spark inspiration for one of Cassie’s nutcrackers, whether it’s Lil Nas X’s latest red carpet look, a unique color palette or even just shopping at the grocery store. “Sometimes I get inspired by produce,” she grins. "I make nutcrackers that I would want. I make nutcrackers that match my aesthetic."

Cast List

The designs aren't confined to just Christmas. Some of Cassie's favorite nutcracker designs include a Beyonce-inspired nutcracker, a Fourth of July nutcracker and even a Juneteenth-themed nutcracker. "I'm Haitian-American. I grew up in Boston. But Juneteenth was not something I grew up knowing what it was and the history of that. And when I made this nutcracker, I really wanted to do it right."

Challenge Accepted

Cassie also takes commissions, often creating nutcrackers designed after a client’s friends or family for gifting. “Last year I had one where I made a little dog for her nutcracker, and [recreated] her favorite Gucci purse,” she says. "I actually love doing commissions. It's a lot of fun. And I'm really willing to do whatever. I've had people who wanted full Swarovski bling jacket ... or they wanted a certain shade of brown, or they want a certain hairstyle, and I'm definitely down for the challenge."

Matchmaker

Since Cassie works a full-time job, it usually takes four to six weeks for her to complete a commission. The process involves painting the blank nutcracker — which includes color-matching skin tones, if necessary — and then designing its clothes, accessories and hair. To get the look of real Black hair, Cassie visits another classic Black outlet: the hair store, a colloquial term for a beauty supply shop that often sells a wide range of hair products, makeup and fashion accessories. “The same place I shop to buy [my own hair products from] from, that's where I go,” she says.

Getting the Texture Right

“I want that representation,” Cassie says. “Sometimes I'll do rainbow hair, but I want it to be curly in texture. I'll do 4C [coils], or I'll do like a looser curl. I'll do locks. I'll do braids. And sometimes I've just braided it myself. I think the hair texture [is] part of what makes it special to me. I want someone who looks at my nutcracker to say, ‘Wow, that one was created for me.’ I just want them to feel that someone sees them.”

A Maker's Journey

Whether it’s painting or baking or coming up with next year’s Christmas tree theme, Cassie has come to enjoy the process. “I love that I can make something. There's joy in the making,” she says. “The joy is in the process. There's joy in the brainstorming, and the research, and just putting it together. I don't think that's ever going to change about me.”