Peppermint Paper-scrap Ornaments

Making Victorian-Style Paper Ornaments in Peppermint Stripe

 

Liliana with all the materials.

       Red and white peppermint swirls in shiny blown glass, sugared peppermint garlands, and jolly elves and Santas in red pinstripes will adorn my "Peppermint Swirl" themed tree for the Christmas display in the local historical museum's dining room next month.  After discussing the thematic possibilities (based on my tree collections) with the event coordinator, my original idea of a folk art, hand-carved Russian ornament tree was skipped over and we agreed that I'll be doing a peppermint swirl tree, with the only other specification:  that it be "elegant."  Red and white sparkly candy--not exactly historical or necessarily "elegant."  In fact, of all the tree decor collections I own (and yes, I adore decorating a variously-themed tree in every room--it's the one time of the year that I let myself embrace glorious items and set aside minimalism!), the peppermint tree is the one tree that I'm still developing, the one that seems a bit jarring next to all our antiques and the predominantly white/cream Christmas decor.  But I feel a childlike glee when I see those oh-so-modern shiny, sparkly peppermint bulbs, so I started collecting a few each year anyway.  I thought, "Perhaps in the kitchen?," or perhaps with my Department 56 North Pole Village that I collected as a child and is also sparkly and fun, or something.  I felt ridiculous collecting such bold decor and wondered if it was a mistake, but here I am with the event coordinator thinking that theme would be the best.


Some of the Christmas research books that gave me ideas.

       So, my goal now is to be sure I have enough of the decorations, to turn it into something "elegant" (perhaps even more in keeping with my "style" so that it doesn't jar me, and perhaps to add a historical touch to it, so that it will be more in keeping with the museum in which it will be showcased.  With that in mind, I was inspired by some of the Christmas research I've been conducting (for a presentation in December) and decided to make some Victorian-style paper ornaments, much as Victorian ladies often did in the evenings of their home.  They used elegant paper bits with faces and added crepe paper, cotton batting, trims, and thin wired tinsel to create very whimsical handmade ornaments. 

I made the bordered ornaments by pleating peppermint-striped
 wrapping paper and gluing a paper doll on top.

       I paged through our Betty Bonnet and Polly paper dolls and found a few with red and white outfits (a few are actually a reproduction from a Valentine party page), utilized a color-copier (yes, I realize that is so not authentic but the real deal scrap ornaments go for hundreds of dollars each), authentic antique lace pieces and trims, some red grosgrain ribbon, some peppermint-striped wrapping paper, cream-colored quilting thread, needle, scissors, and yes paste and had such fun!  I made borders around a few of them by corrugating (folding like a fan or pleating) the wrapping paper and then gluing it underneath the ornaments.  I attached the antique trims by hand sewing onto the paper dolls.  Liliana enjoys sitting next to me and periodically snatching my materials and wrinkling the paper dolls, but that was fine since the finished product is simply homey and fun.  Someday, I'd love to make some ornaments with antique china heads, or something more amazing, but this satisfies me for now.  I think it does bring a little more of the historical, the antique, and the elegant into a crazily candy-colored tree.  We will see how it turns out!



Examples of Victorian scrap ornaments.