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Posts Tagged ‘ornament’

Life Produces Kooky Christmas Fun

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 23, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Photo: WJAR/file photo.
Traffic on Interstate 195 west builds up on the approach to the Washington Bridge in East Providence, where one lane had to be closed a year ago. Now you can have a Washington Bridge Christmas ornament.

I do get tired of “Jingle Bells” and “Deck the Halls” on the radio starting before Thanksgiving, but there are other seasonal songs I look forward to hearing again, some that are lovely (“Mary’s Boy Child”) and some that are playful (“Santa Baby”).

If you want to hear holiday music that’s a bit different, check out WICN, the Worcester jazz station, here. It’s a breath of fresh air. I love seeing the creativity that holidays bring out in jazz musicians.

The holidays bring out the creativity of ornament makers, too, delighting people who want a small, kooky gift to give or something different for their own tree.

Ed Fitzpatrick at the Boston Globe has written about a new Christmas tree decoration that makes hay out of an unwelcome event in Rhode Island: the sudden closure last year of the westbound lane of a critically important bridge. Rhode Islanders are still dealing with the chaos that ensued.

“Forget Christmas ornaments of snowmen, Santa, or even the Big Blue Bug,” says Fitzpatrick. “This year, Rhode Islanders are decorating their Christmas trees with a miniature replica of the Washington Bridge ― complete with orange traffic cones shifting drivers away from the westbound lanes, which have been closed for more than a year. …

“Facing the choice of laughing or crying, many of the Rhode Island motorists who’ve spent time idling in bridge traffic jams have added a sardonic touch to their fir trees.

“Duke Marcoccio, the design artist behind mylittetown.com, said the Washington Bridge is by far the best seller from among the dozens of ornaments he sells. …

“Marcoccio, a Narragansett resident, said he has been making Christmas ornaments for 25 years now. The first was a replica of The Towers in Narragansett. Since then, he has created about 300 ornaments, including a Del’s lemonade cup, the Haven Brothers mobile diner, the Benny’s sign, and the Big Blue Bug. …

“The biggest hit has been the Washington Bridge ornament, Marcoccio said. He said he considered placing tiny orange traffic cones on the bridge deck, but they probably would have broken. So he just painted the cones and shifting lanes on the span. ‘They get the idea,’ he said.”

Read more of the entertaining story at the Globe, here. And please share holiday songs you like, especially ones that don’t get much play. Beautiful or quirky.

Louis Armstrong and his song “‘Zat You, Santa Claus?”

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Far-Out Holiday Ornaments

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on December 13, 2024| 3 Comments »

Photo: Sarah Rose Sharp/Hyperallergic.
Hallmark’s “Oscar Mayer Wienermobile” Christmas ornament from 2001.

As Christmas approaches, I usually write something about traditional Christmas ornaments or handmade ornaments with special meaning for me.

In today’s article, we learn about Hallmark items that are a bit less traditional. Just as dictionaries choose new words each year to add to their new editions (eg, rewild for “return to a natural state” or smishing for “sending text messages to trick someone into giving away personal information”), Hallmark liked to identify cultural touchstones to make into Christmas ornaments.

Hyperallergic‘s Sarah Rose Sharp wrote skeptically about the Hallmark decorations exhibited in a 2022 show at the Henry Ford Museum.

“Christmas is an occasion for many, especially in the United States, to engage in a series of depraved practices — from overwhelming our aural space with relentless Christmas music and offering free holiday parking in shopping districts to sending photo cards that insincerely highlight family accomplishments. …

“At Detroit’s Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, an exhibition [celebrates] decorating the Christmas tree. Miniature Moments: A Journey Through Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments features an impressive 7,000 ornaments that range from traditional spheres and bulbs to admittedly weird baubles honoring an Oscar Mayer weiner, The Twilight Zone, a 2009 Jonas Brothers moment, and yes, Michael Scott from The Office.

“The Christmas tree, at least as recognizable in its modern conception, is credited to 16th-century Germany. Certainly, the practice of holiday decoration utilizing evergreen boughs — not to mention literal tree worship — predates this, but as far as the practice of kidnapping trees from their natural environment, dragging them into our homes, and dressing them up in lights and tiny objects, that’s all Germany. The holiday trend became more widespread through the marriage of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Queen Victoria, which brought the tradition to England. …

“Hallmark, having already established an empire built on greeting cards, broke out in a bold and definitive new direction in 1973, launching its annual series of keepsake ornaments that would go on to become a fixture of American Christmastime. The series was discontinued in 2009, and in 2019, the Henry Ford Museum announced its acquisition. [The exhibition shows] an overall shift from very traditional, Christmas-oriented ornaments in the ’70s and ’80s to more pop-culture and personality-reflecting trends from the ’90s onward.

“ ‘There are some things that perhaps 40 years ago we wouldn’t have thought of as appropriate Christmas ornaments to appear on people’s trees,’ curator Jeanine Head Miller, who oversaw the acquisition and installation of the monumental collection, told Hyperallergic. ‘Christmas tree decorating has become more about personal identity and self expression now, as opposed to more traditional Christmas tree decorating. So, people choose things to put on a tree that reflect their interests, or even their personal experiences.’

“Certainly, there are many ornaments that would make no sense without some context — from a Star Wars Imperial AT-AT Walker about to be felled by a rebel Snowspeeder, to Indiana Jones poised to replace a golden idol with a bag of carefully weighted sand.

“Perhaps even stranger are those pop culture figures that have been adapted to the Christmas context. This is at least marginally on brand for characters like the Peanuts, who famously star in a series of beloved and confoundingly depressing holiday specials, and more of a stretch with, say, an ornament of Pixar’s WALL-E, wrapped in a string of seasonal lights.

“ ‘One of the ornaments that’s the hardest to find, so it’s very popular, is Cousin Eddie’s RV from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,’ said Head Miller. Naturally, one does not immediately think of hanging a rusty RV on the Christmas tree, but that just goes to show you how eclectic and odd some of the Hallmark ornaments can be — even though a huge majority of them are fairly sentimental and nostalgic. …

“Then there’s stuff like the bear. It appears to be a reference to Steiff stuffed animals on wheels, which were apparently all the rage in 1904. … Hilariously and with no additional context, the bear ornament is labeled ‘Son.’ …

“And don’t even get me started on an ornament of Ralphie in his pink rabbit sleeper, instantly recognizable as a moment from the iconic 1983 holiday film A Christmas Story — but utterly confusing when taken out of context as a small, unhappy child in a pink rabbit costume hanging on a Christmas tree. …

“These Hallmark ornaments touch people, as is obvious during a visit to the exhibition, which finds visitors of all ages and types pointing to this or that on the wall, exclaiming in recognition. It’s always lovely to see folks bask in the collective glow of shared culture.

“From an outsider perspective, it is a wild mish-mosh of insane symbols and signifiers — which is actually wonderful in its own, secular way.”

More at Hyperallergic, here.

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Never Too Many Ornaments

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on December 24, 2021| 5 Comments »

Even though we’re buying smaller and smaller Christmas trees each year and you’d think I wouldn’t be able to cram on decades’ worth of ornaments, I hate to leave anything out.

There’s a cross-stitched ornament that John made from a kit when he was four. Numerous decorations were created by my husband’s Aunt Mae, who had an active life past age 100 and made knitted, crocheted, and sequined ornaments that she kept secret as she worked on them during the year.

There are many items made in the Crafts for Christmas workshops at church, which encourages children to make, rather than buy, presents to give. Most were the work of John and Suzanne in the 1980s. Others were made by their own children in pre-Covid church workshops. The wide range of workshop items include everything from Christmas doorknob covers to reindeer ornaments constructed of clothespins.

I love looking at the tiny crocheted figures from China that I found in a shop at Niagara on the Lake when Suzanne was two. They remind me of our time at the Shaw Festival in Canada. My husband and I traded off babysitting so he could see a play and I could laugh myself silly at a performance by the concert comedienne Anna Russell.

I also have an origami star in shiny green paper from someone in an Esperanto group that used to meet monthly at my house.

A little baseball ornament and a tiny box of fishing tackle remind me of early interests of John, who now coaches baseball and teaches kids in the family to fish.

Really far back in time, I acquired a small Christmas stocking for one of my dolls — that goes on the tree, too.

There’s a horse-saddle ornament, a memento from a vacation that the Clymers took out West. And I still hang up a large glass ball from the Lillian Vernon surprise box. I painted “1980” on it back then.

I also hang up quotations looped with a green ribbon, an idea my husband got on a business trip to Singapore, where they hang sayings outdoors.

The clunky red-paint-and-sparkles thing you see below is something I made from an egg carton years ago. Recently married, I thought it would be fun to take Crafts for Christmas at the local adult ed after work while my husband took a different class. Can’t imagine how I stayed awake in those days!

Please be sure to notice that hanging near a bear ornament is something white that has the same shape. That is what my husband made for a three-year-old John, who asked him to make another bear. Though not usually into crafts, the guy did his best, and I like seeing his white cardboard bear every year.

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Decorating with Memories

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on December 12, 2015| 4 Comments »

outing-to-cut-a-tree

Here is Suzanne the one year we cut our own tree. I think she had the most fun of the four of us. The thermos had hot chocolate.

We set our sights on smaller trees nowadays, and my husband just put this year’s in the stand. I’ve been gearing up to decorate, first looking through the ornaments. It’s like greeting old friends after a year. Some of them are very familiar and beloved, but I can’t remember their stories. Here are a few whose stories I do remember.

The big red one on the lower step: from the Crafts for Christmas class I took the year we were married. Amazing what you can do cutting up egg cartons!

The sparkly tear-drop shape and the doorknob cover: from the church’s craft workshop when John and Suzanne were young. The angel with sequins: made by Aunt Mae in her 90s. She also made the smiling snowman backed by a green star and many other items — in secret, to surprise everyone. The round milk-bottle-cap ornament: don’t get me started now on highly educated women with no occupation spending their time on that. But I like to think of the woman who made it, with sympathy.

The soldier with John’s name on it: that was a gift from Aunt Peggy.

The Esperanto green star: from a friend in my Esperanto group. The two crocheted Chinese dolls: from a trip to the Shaw Festival at Niagara-on-the-Lake when Suzanne was about 1. My husband went to see a Shaw play while I babysat. I went to see hilarious concert comedienne Anna Russell while he babysat.

The bear: John was 3, and I was spending considerable time in graduate classes. John insisted my husband make a bear ornament just like that one out of cardboard. We have that too, somewhere. It doesn’t look just like that one, but we love it.

The Clymers brought the saddle from a trip to South America. John stitched the cross-stitch tree at a ridiculously young age (3? 4?).

The see-through snowball: a gift at DeAnna’s December wedding to Mairtin at the Peabody-Essex Museum.

121215-christmas-memories

 

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Paper Hearts to Hang

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on January 25, 2015| 4 Comments »

On Saturday, I made Valentines with the two-year-old grandchildren (two families). It’s so pleasant. “Relaxing,” adds Suzanne.

A couple weeks ago, I learned about something a little more advanced that we can try making — paper-strip hearts to hang in a window or on a tree or anywhere.

I saw a few of these ornaments in the window of the 5 and 10, and I said to myself, “Cool! I can do that!”

I looked at the samples very carefully. But when I got home and tried to replicate what I had seen, the heart came out as a bubble.

Naturally, I turned to the Internet, and Sugar Bee Crafts came to my rescue. The secret is the second staple. I thought Mandy Beyeler did a fine job of photographing exactly where you have to put that staple. And she even pulled it off with two preschoolers helping.  Check her tutorial here for the details. And look at the pictures. Mandy’s hearts are much fancier than mine.

paper-heart

 

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Allowing Time to Take Down the Tree

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on January 6, 2013| 6 Comments »

When I take down the tree, I like to allow myself time.

Time to unroll the strings of lights and re-roll them in tissue paper. Time to lift off the sparkly cobwebs of tinsel and store them in a basket for another day.

Time for the ornaments, nearly every one eliciting a memory of something.

The small wreath of green and red puff balls that Suzanne made in the First Parish craft workshop (attended by nearly every kid in town, regardless of religion). The cross-stitch embroidery John made with hardly any help at age 3 or 4. The fishing tackle box and the saxophone representing past interests. The smiley felt-and-sequin jobs that 90-something Aunt Mae kept secret until Christmas. The coffee grinder for my husband. The goofy red ornament that I made from egg cartons when I was first married. The bird-in-a-nest that is supposed to bring good luck. The Chinese doll I got at Niagara-on-the-Lake the year we took turns babysitting the kids in order to see shows at the G.B. Shaw festival. The frosty ball from DeAnna’s winter wedding. And my new “tradition,” quotations hung on a ribbon.

I am the only person who remembers the things I remember exactly the way I remember them; you are the only person who remembers the things you remember exactly the way you remember them.

taking the tree down

ornaments

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