Items To Hang On The Tree

Create your own items to hang on the tree:

This can be as simple as a child’s art project to your very own ornaments. Get creative and make it interesting, pull in elements from special events that year. Make it pertinent but keep it simple.

Try decorations made out of felt, make little picture frames with popsicle sticks and cardboard, and come up with some novelty items of your own.

Candy Canes are quite simple to make and are steeped in tradition. They date back as far as 1670, when a cathedral in Germany made sweets to give to the children during a nativity service. The sweets were shaped to look like a shepherd's crook.

Candy canes are still popular today and some Christians turn the crook upside down to represent the letter 'J' for Jesus. The red-and-white stripes represent Christ's blood and purity.

Of course no traditional Christmas would be complete without a fabulous tree at the heart of celebrations. We largely have Prince Albert to thank for this. In 1841 he had a tree setup in Windsor castle as it was a German tradition and Albert of course was of German descent.

This then became popular amongst the upper classes and then continued through the echelons of society over the coming years.

Although different colours have been used through the ages, some people have the opinion now that the tree looks best with simple red and gold ornaments and clear lights (rather than multi-coloured).

It was the German protestant priest Martin Luther who first made lights popular on trees because he wanted to show worshippers the wonders of twinkling stars shining through evergreen trees.

To adorn your Christmas tree traditionally, you should use small toys, cakes, sweetmeats and bags with ribbons full of sweets like sugared almonds or other bonbons. Tinsel and glass ornaments were a German tradition and it is quite acceptable to use these items when hosting a traditional Christmas.

Another simple traditional idea is to collect some twigs (or use cocktail sticks) and make a cross out of them. Bind this cross together with coloured string and then hang them.

If you have the time, you could follow the example of young Victorian ladies who would spend many hours making horned cornucopias from twists of coloured and decorated paper.

These would then be filled with stuffed dates or other such fancies. They would also make feather and silk pouches and draw string purses to hold sugared fruits and almonds.

Victorian girls often had considerable silk and lace making skills and they would put these to good use by making snowflake doilies. These were then soaked in a thick sugar solution so that they could be shaped and formed into decorations.

Tip 1: This is something you could try yourself. If your macrame and lace skills are not up to scratch, you can buy some ready-made doilies and try soaking them in a sugar solution and making decorations with them.

Tip 2: Victorian girls also made snowmen and angels using cotton wool. Why not try this with your kids. They're sure to love it.

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