Vintage Christmas Ornaments

Vintage Christmas Ornaments: An Homage

2008-05-05T17:56:00.008-04:00

Image via Wikipedia
In fond remembrance of vintage Christmas ornaments

For those of us who grew up in the sixties, it's not hard to remember shiny gold ornaments with fake “snow” stuck on them from the Christmas before (or maybe even many Christmases before). Then there was the mangled wreath, with its twisted wire boughs and plastic “pine needles,” that had been in the family for at least 10 years. And of course, there was the plastic Christmas tree. (If you were real traditional, your family would sit around it in October and take a picture so it could be developed and printed on your Christmas cards in time to send out at the beginning of December!) We were in the age of plastics and everything about Christmas in our household reflected it. No wonder I love vintage ornaments so much; it must be a case of sixties Christmas ornament backlash.

Mixed in with all the shiny baubles, we also had a few hand-painted vintage ornaments that looked quite dated to us at the time. I imagine they were thrown out as just so much garbage. So, don't do what we did; if you're lucky enough to have authentic vintage ornaments, hang on to them!

But how do you tell if an ornament is "vintage"? If you're over 50 years old and you remember them from your childhood, that's one clue. But if you're not that old or if you run across what you think might be a vintage ornament and you're not sure, here are some things to look for:

Ornaments from years past were smaller than the ornaments you find in stores today.
Vintage ornaments were usually made in soft colors.
Antique ornaments often have hand-painted details. It's probably vintage if the paint is faded or distressed in areas.
Older ornaments were handmade out of blown glass, instead of being machine-made. When you remove the stem from the base of the ornament, if it's hand-blown it will have an uneven edge. (Glass blowers couldn't make clean breaks, no matter how good they were.) Machine-made ornaments will have a smooth and even edge.
There are also other more rare and collectible forms of vintage ornaments: cotton batting, Dresden paper, Kugels and vintage plastic from right after WWII. These are worlds onto themselves, which require a little knowledge to identify.

In the days when ornaments meant something

In addition to being pretty to look at, many old ornaments actually had meanings, based on their shapes:

Pickles meant good luck.
Victorian fruits and vegetables symbolized harvest-time.
In addition to being symbols of good fortune and good luck, birds represented biblical messengers that brought God's love to the world.
Ornaments with geometric concave indentations, called reflector ornaments, were used during the Victorian era to ward off evil spirits. As such, they were often called “witches eyes.”
As it is today in a more stylized form, the fish was an early Christian symbol for Christ.
And in the incredibly obvious department, star shapes represented the Star of Bethlehem.

The bottom line is, if you have a vintage ornament of any shape, hold onto it! Even if it's not your style, you can always sell it. Or you might want to keep it in the family for someone who appreciates the vast sense of history that can be contained in such a small piece of glass.

Vintage Christmas Ornament Types

2008-05-01T12:42:00.006-04:00

Cotton Batting Ornaments
Cotton batting ornaments hail from Germany and other parts of Europe. They were made in the late 1800s by craftsmen who crafted cotton batting into adorable Santas, reindeer, angels, birds and other shapes. Some are crude-looking and some are more detailed and sophisticated. Although these ornaments were originally quite affordable, they've become quite collectible (translation: expensive) over the years.
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Dresden Paper Ornaments
Although these ornaments look like metal, they're actually cardboard that has been gilded. The original versions from the late 1880s didn't have religious themes. Except for the occasional Santa, they more often featured birds, animals, musical instruments and other non-holiday-related shapes.
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Plastic Ornaments
Plastics were introduced after WWII for use in Christmas ornaments, as well as any number of other household items. Since there was strong anti-Japan and Germany sentiment at the time, people were less inclined to purchase ornaments made in those two countries anyway. And when people discovered that plastic ornaments were more durable, they became quite popular.

Kugel Glass Ornaments
Kugels come from Germany and are made of heavy glass cast from varying mold shapes, including eggs and fruit designs. They were also produced as plain glass balls that were special because they were hand-blown and could be found in sizes up to 30" in diameter. Part of their uniqueness is that the color was part of the glass; it wasn't painted on after.

Springing Out All Over: Vintage Flowers for Your Spring Wedding

2008-03-12T15:26:00.000-04:00

Because the economy is not as strong as it was even a year
ago, otherwise happy couples are having to be quite
circumspect about saving money on their weddings. But not to
worry, because there are many online resources available
that will allow you to create the items you'll need for your
wedding. Having these cost-saving resources at your
fingertips will allow you to have the perfect wedding
without the high price tag.

You'll be happy to know there is plenty of vintage clip art
you can find online. If you find the right clip art, your
wedding theme will begin to crystallize. Because looking for
the right wedding clip art is a big job, a little help from
your maid of honor or bridesmaids might be called for.

But what if you don't know where to start when looking for
wedding clip art? The first thing to do is look around at
how you decorated your environment. That should give you a
good idea of your tastes. What colors are the most
prominent? Understanding your color preferences is a
wonderful place to begin. Also, look at how complex or
simple your decorating scheme is. Keeping these guidelines
in mind will make the job of determining a theme a lot
easier.

Once your color scheme is nailed down to your satisfaction,
you can go on the Internet and search for free vintage
flowers. Why do I recommend vintage flowers instead of
something more modern? The reason is that vintage art has
great diversity and creates a classic feel.

To create a look that's completely timeless, look for free
vintage roses clip art. When these classic roses arrive in
the mail on your invitations, people will think a lot of
money was spent on them. Using these lovely classic flowers
will show everyone your good taste. And in the end, is that
not exactly what you want anyway? I know I sure do!

Article kindly provided by http://articledaddy.info

For vintage clip art visit Vintage Holiday Crafts, the home of beautiful and classic free vintage roses clip art.

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2008-03-01T17:31:00.000-05:00

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