by Kelly Olsen

Created on: November 21, 2011

Each and every year new and "improved" ornaments and decorations come out each Christmas.  Blinking lights, digital music, and moving parts, plastic galore! There is something to be said for old fashioned hand made ornaments and decorations.  The quality, the warmth that can only be given by a special something made by a loved one.

Stars are a prominent theme during the Holidays and the Germans had their own take on them for their decorations. Often called Moravian Stars these darlings go by many names, German Stars or German Star Ornaments, Swedish Stars, Froebel's Stars, or Christmas Stars. The stars can be made out of paper strips, Stiff ribbon, wrapping paper and even very stiff lace. A firm ribbon that can hold a crease when folded is a good place to start as there is no measuring or cutting uneven strips.  The strips are laid out on the table and woven together at first and then folded in a similar fashion to origami to create a 3D ornament.  They can be made itty bitty to huge. They can be hung on Trees or doorways, mantels and windows or used to top of Christmas presents. Patterns can be found online for the

stars as well as in many old craft magazines.

 Pomanders of the citrus type are wonderful ornaments that not only look great but add a pleasant spicy fragrance to any room.  Made in Victorian times not only as a decoration but to "sweeten" a room these  ornamnets can be useful. Placed in drawers, closets and in bowels on the table they can help to cover odors or just make things smell nice.  Small un damaged citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons and limes are transformed into the Pomanders by the addition of whole cloves which are poked through the fruits skin and left in. Once the fruit is as full of closely packed cloves as can be the entire ball is rolled in a spice mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, ground ginger and orris root powder  about a teaspoon each. Let dry, they will not mold if there are no bad spots and there is plenty of the spices as they will help to preserve the fruits.   Wrap and tie with a ribbon to be hung.

Almost forgotten in most homes would be the tiny little nut wreathes.  Unshelled nuts are easily glued onto small wreath bases or for a modern day twist on old or garbage Cd's. Nuts of every shape and size as well as seeds can be used to create medallions each unique to it's maker and as varied as snowflakes. Layout the nuts in a circle in a pattern and glue them to a base. Let dry and decorate with ribbons, holly or just leave plain. Great project to do with kids!

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