CHAPTER XXI

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

When the air is cold and frosty, and people move quickly through the streets, stopping to loiter only in front of the shop windows; when groups of merry girls hurry along on their way to school, their cheeks, glowing rosy under the brisk greetings of a northwest wind; when the evergreens displayed for sale upon the sidewalks send forth a spicy odor which ascends like incense and the very atmosphere seems pulsating with pleasurable excitement, there is no need of a calendar to tell us that the holidays are close at hand. As surely as a cloudless sky betokens a fine day, so surely do these signs indicate that Christmas will soon be with us.

Purse-strings, even if kept tightly drawn the rest of the year, are loosened now, and money is spent freely and ungrudgingly, not only for gifts, but also for Christmas greens with which to decorate and beautify the home.

Stars, wreaths, and ropes of evergreen and holly will soon adorn the interior of almost every house. There are always plenty of willing hands ready and eager to help, but there should be a head to devise a plan of decoration and to direct and superintend the carrying out of the idea; for there is no necessity for festooning a room and hanging up stars and wreaths in the same way year after year. A great variety of new designs may be made.

For instance, Fig. 515 shows a beautiful and

=Effective Portière=

composed simply of ropes of evergreen fastened to the curtain pole by looping one end of a rope over the pole, bringing it down and tying it securely to the same rope just under the pole. Each piece is fastened on separately and hangs loosely down.

Fig. 520 is a

=Star and Shepherd´s Crook=

grouped to form a pretty wall decoration, the design symbolizing the star of Bethlehem and the shepherds who, watching their flocks by night, heard the angel chorus “Peace on earth, good-will toward men.”

Make the star of five flat sticks (laths will do), two and a half feet long, and put them together as shown in Fig. 521; then cover the frame with holly so that [Illustration: Fig. 521.] none of the wood is visible. Make the crook of a broomstick, to which fasten with strong twine, or flexible wire, a piece of rather stiff wire bent in the shape of Fig. 522. Wrap evergreen closely around the wire and stick until every bit is covered and it looks like one piece. Then place the crook behind the star and wire or tie it in place.

Fig. 516 is

=A Silver Star=

on a background of evergreen, the rays being made of strips of tinsel which is sold for decorating Christmas-trees. The frame for the background is made like Fig. 517, and should be about two feet square. Over this frame stretch ropes of evergreen, close together, and fasten with tacks at each end. Cut the [Illustration: Fig. 517.] star from card-board, cover it with crumpled tin-foil and fasten to the centre of the frame with a small nail. Sew tinsel threads on the points of the star before it is secured to the background; then when the star is in place spread out the tinsel in straight rays and fasten it to the frame as shown in illustration (Fig. 516).

Fig. 518 is a design for

=A Sconce=

upon which one or more candles may be placed. The tin which forms the back of the sconce reflects the light and produces quite a brilliant effect.

Nail a block of wood one and one-half inches square to a piece of tin seven inches wide and fourteen inches long (Fig. 519). Silver or gild a number of pine cones and hang them from the lower edge of the block; then tack evergreen around the three sides as shown in illustration (Fig. 518). Fasten the sconce to the wall with small nails driven through each corner of the tin and place on the bracket a candlestick containing a lighted candle.

One of the most quickly made

=Festoons for a Christmas Tree,=

and one which has never been thought of until now, is of tin-foil, the common kind of foil to be found at the florist’s. It also comes around cakes of chocolate, rolls of cream-cheese, and large packages of tea. You can make the trimming any length desired by pasting strips o f the tin-foil together, but, before joining the pieces, fold one at a time and cut slashes on each side nearly across to the opposite edge as in Fig. 523. Unfolded, the strip resembles Fig. 524; pulled at each end it opens and lengthens out into Fig. 525.

This decoration catches the light and glistens beautifully, but it must be handled [Illustration: Fig. 525.] carefully and not laid down after it is stretched open. As soon as ready hang the strips upon the tree, where they will be [Illustration: Fig. 524.] safe. The best plan is to make these loopings after the other decorations are finished and on the tree. When the pieces are cut they are more easily handled if but a few are put together at a time before they are pulled open; then the decoration will appear in perfect shape and look like polished shining silver hanging in delicate, graceful festoons.

Another effective trimming made of tin-foil is in the form of

=Fringe Ruching.=

Fig. 526 shows fringe partially cut; use three layers of the foil and cut them into fringe; then take a strong, coarse string and twist the tin-foil fringe around and around it, forming a rope of silvery fringe (Fig. 527).

An ornament that delights children, the idea of which comes from Germany, is a jolly little black

=Chimney Sweep,=

with his funny broom held high in air. He wears a peaked white hat and carries a bag filled with goodies. He is made entirely of prunes (Fig. 528)—one for the head, two for the body, one for each arm, one for each hand, two for each leg and one for each foot. The prunes are [Illustration: Fig. 528.] strung together with a coarse needle and thread. If he is too limber, give him a backbone by running a slender stick through the back of the head and body. Make him a paper hat shaped like a wide-mouthed horn, and cut out a paper face and paste it on the little man’s head; then tie the sheer white bag across his shoulders, fasten it at the side with a pin and fill the bag with sweets; the broom can be fashioned of a wooden toothpick with a bunch of broom-straws bound upon one end. The happy child who receives the chimney sweep from the tree may devour the prunes when tired of the toy.

Home-made

=Fancy Cakes=

cut in odd shapes make fine decorations and will be eaten with delight by the young people. Select a simple recipe, roll the dough out flat and cut into the shapes of men, women, animals, and birds. When baked, ornament the cakes with icing put on in thin, slender lines; in most instances outline the figures in white sugar.

Yellow is a color which stands out well in the midst of the dark green foliage of the fir, and

=Oranges=

may be used to supply it. A few can be hung to the tree by means of ribbons; others may be made into pretty little [Illustration: Fig. 529.] baskets and filled with the candied sections of orange. Tie a piece of tape or any kind of band around an orange as a guide for cutting the rind evenly; stick two pins on each side to designate the location and width of the handles; then, with the small blade of a knife carefully cut [Illustration: Fig. 530.] the handle, keeping it the same width all the way from side to side. Next cut the rind along the edge of the tape (Fig. 529). Remove the skin, in bits if necessary, to avoid tearing the handle or edge of the basket. Work the inside juicy fruit free from the remaining rind and take it out of the basket (Fig. 530). If there is difficulty in doing this, cut the fruit out in pieces. Pass a narrow ribbon under the basket and up over the handle, tie the ends; then bind them around under and over [Illustration: Fig. 531.] the middle of the handle, finishing with a bow-knot on top. The ribbon strengthens the handle, without it the weight of the basket when hung on the tree would cause it to break from the handle and fall.

Fill the orange basket, with sections of the fruit, which have received a brittle coating by being dipped in clear, hot, home-made sugar candy (Fig. 531).

Make a number of pretty,

=Fancy Boxes=

of pasteboard cut in different shapes and covered with various colored paper. One in imitation of a large stick of peppermint candy may be made of a strip of stiff white paper ten or twelve inches long and three and one-half inches wide; unruled writing-paper will do. Paste the two lengthwise edges together, forming a cylinder. Around this paste a long, narrow strip of bright-red paper, wrapping it spirally around the white tube. Slash two circular pieces of paper around the edges so that the disks may fit into the ends of the roll when the slashed portions are bent forward. Fix one of the round pieces in the bottom of the box with mucilage. When dry fill the box with small bits of candy or kernels of nuts; then glue a loop of narrow ribbon or one of red worsted at the top, fasten in the round cover, and hang the box on the tree.

Be sure to save some of the prettiest paper for

=Cornucopias=

Cut them according to the dark portion of Fig. 532, and make the white-paper lining extend higher than the outside. [Illustration: Fig. 532.] [Illustration: Fig. 533.] Glue the two papers together, inserting a narrow ribbon for a handle between outside and inside papers. Let the colored paper project a quarter of an inch beyond one side of the lining in order that the edge A may fit neatly over the lining B (Fig. 532), avoiding unnecessary bulkiness where the two sides join. Ornament the cornucopias in different ways, according to fancy and the material you happen to have for the purpose. Fig. 533 shows a gold-paper cornucopia decorated with white beading on a scarlet ground and a fancy picture in a red and white embossed frame. You can also make little bright-colored cheese-cloth

=Christmas Stockings=

by cutting them out and sewing the edges together with far apart button-hole stitches of gay worsted. When finished fill them with sugar-plums or small cakes.

=Bobbinet Bags=

made small and button-holed in the same way, with drawstrings of worsted, look well on the tree when filled with nuts or pop-corn, and little bird’s-nests of egg-shells covered with moss and filled with eggs of sugar are charming.

=Holly-leaved Festoons=

of gold paper with scarlet-paper berries will make the tree very gay. Cut the gilt paper into a number of squares [Illustration: Fig. 534.] (Fig. 534), fold each piece through the centre (Fig. 535), and fold again, forming a small square (Fig. 536). Crease this diagonally through the centre and [Illustration: Fig. 535.] cut according to the dotted lines of Fig. 537, clipping off the point C to make a hole in the centre of the design. Open out the paper, and it will be a conventionalized group of Christmas holly leaves (Fig. 538). Fold smaller squares of red paper in the same manner and cut the design shown by [Illustration: 75] [Illustration: 150] the dotted lines of Fig. 539, unfold and the paper will be a formal pattern of red berries (Fig. 540). Now lay the berries (Fig. 540) out flat on the leaves (Fig. 538), adjust the two together; then lift the berries, put a little glue on the edge of the hole and fasten the berries on the leaves, pasting them together at the centres only. Fasten another layer of leaves on the other side of the berries, also at the centre, putting the berries between the leaves. To the tips of the large leaves on the last group (D, E, F, and G—Fig. 538) fasten the tips of corresponding [Illustration: Fig. 539.] leaves on another bunch; at the centre of these glue more berries, then leaves, with their four tips pasted to four [Illustration: Fig. 541.] other leaf tips, and so on, following, in order, leaves, berries, leaves with points pasted to points of other leaves, then berries again (Fig. 541), making the rope of golden holly as long as needed. Tie a strong string to a small circle of gilded card-board and run it through the holes in the festoon. You can close the holly and berry garland up flat against the card-board ring by shoving the leaves and berries together down the string, as an accordion shuts flat when one side is pushed toward the other. In this way the trimming may be kept in good order and packed safely to serve again next year.

=Pop-corn Balls=

look tempting on a Christmas tree. They are easy to make, and taste very good indeed. Have the fire clear and hot, with no flames, and put in the popper at one time only enough corn to cover the bottom a single kernel deep; shake the popper constantly while the corn is over the fire until it has all popped. Then boil one-quarter of [Illustration: Fig. 542.] a cupful of molasses with a little sugar until it hardens in water, remove from the fire before it turns brittle and pour it over two quarts of corn. Mix well with your hands, make into balls about the size of lemons, suspend the sweet, white ornaments from the twigs, and use the remaining corn for a different decoration. String a lot of the flower-like kernels with a large needle and strong thread, loop the strands from branch to branch, and the snowy ropes will lighten up the foliage beautifully (Fig. 542).

=Strings of Red Cranberries=

with knots of narrow red satin ribbon tied here and there on the strands, make a fine [Illustration: Fig. 543.] decoration.

=Peanuts=

wrapped in yellow, red, white, light blue, and pale-green fringed tissue-paper (Fig. 543) and tied on pendent lengths of string, three or four to each (Fig. 544), and attached at varying lengths to the limbs of the tree are a [Illustration: Fig. 544.] splendid decoration, for these peanut kisses give quite a gala appearance to the tree.

Do not forget to have some form of

=Jewelry for the Tree=

bracelets or necklaces—not of gleaming precious stones nor yet of gold or silver, but of toothsome nut kernels and delicious, dark rich raisins. With needle and strong thread string first a peanut, then a raisin, a peanut, a raisin, an almond, a raisin, a filbert, [Illustration: Fig. 545.] a raisin, and so on, using as many kinds of nuts as you deem best (Fig. 545). The girl or boy receiving this necklace will be charmed and later may devour the queer beads one by one as they are pulled from the string.

A simple decoration is made of

=Colored Paper Chains=

the first link being formed of a narrow strip of paper pasted together into a ring; the next link is a piece of paper passed through the first ring before the two ends are joined. Each succeeding link of the chain is made in a similar manner. Rosy apples are acceptable as ornaments and are always to be found on the tree in Germany, the land that first introduced the Christmas tree to other countries.

There is one style of ornamental gift which in Germany must hang on the tree until New Year’s Day—the

=Gilded English Walnut=

(Fig. 546). The preparation of these can be made a delightful frolic if there are several young persons in the secret. [Illustration: 125] [Illustration: Fig. 547.] Crack open the nuts so there will be two perfect half shells to each (Fig. 547). Inside the empty nut place a motto or device which will tell the fortune, or part of it, of the recipient of the gift. Ideas will come to you as the work goes on. For a hint to help a little at the [Illustration: Fig. 549.] start, cut two hearts of red paper and fasten them together with a dart made of a pin and piece of white paper (Fig. 548). This denotes that the girl or boy who gets it will be the first to marry. Fig. 549, the water-color brush, means that the happy lad or lassie to whose lot it falls will be an artist. Fig. 550 signifies ability to appreciate music. Fig. 551 ensures [Illustration: Fig. 550.] plenty of worldly goods. One suggestion gives rise to another, and you will think of more than enough for all the empty nutshells. After the “fortune” is placed within the nut, glue the halves firmly together. When dry, work a tack in the end where the stem grew, twisting it slowly that the shell may not split or break. When the tack seems firmly in place, gild the entire nut, including the tack; tie a strong string on this and hang the “fortune” on the tree. As [Illustration: Fig. 551.] all the nuts look exactly alike, no one can tell which is which—not even those who made them will know who receives the different “fortunes” until the nuts are opened and the secrets revealed.

Most of the ideas given are for a daytime Christmas tree where lights are not used. If candles are employed, no paper festoons can be placed on the tree. Lights are always dangerous, and the tree may be quite brilliant without them.

Toys and useful little articles, such as you can make as presents for all the members of the family, big and little, and for friends, will surely add to the interest and appearance of the tree.