Traditional Home Christmas Decorating
Christmas decorating is similar to interior decorating in that each year design trends influence the Christmas ornament and decorating markets. Designs are represented each year at expos and fairs such as Christmas World. In spite of modern trends, traditional Christmas decorating based on Victorian influences remains popular, associated with nostalgic feelings that celebrate the true spirit of the season. Does this Spark an idea?
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Christmas Tree
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The most well-known symbol of Christmas is the decorated tree. Trees, artificial or real, are set up in the home as the central focus of holiday décor. Traditional decorating utilizes a variety of ornament designs from exquisite glass bulbs to handmade ornaments, often made by children and re-used each year. In addition to the traditional Christmas colors of red and green, ornament colors include gold, silver and a variety of nontraditional colors. The mix of colors provides a homey feeling as opposed to the monochromatic colors used in modern Christmas decorating. Trees outside of the home are typically decorated with lights, with some also adorned with traditional-style ornaments that are larger than those used on the tree inside the home. In 1895, President Grover Cleveland requested electric lights for the White House Christmas tree and in 1903 General Electric came out with the first home kits of electric Christmas lights.
Lighting the House
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Stringing lights on the exterior of the home is perhaps the one Christmas decorating tradition that is uniquely American. Homeowners may choose to string outdoor lighting along the eaves, on trees and shrubbery or create elaborate lighting displays of multicolored or monochromatic lights. Indoor light sets strung inside the windows give the appearance of outdoor lighting.
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Wreaths
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Christmas wreaths are seen hanging on an outside door and decorating the inside of the home. Circular formations of greenery from trees, holly, ivy or a mixture of these are enhanced with ribbon, small toys, pinecones, candy, fruit, nuts or tree ornaments to create custom wreaths. The styles of traditional wreaths vary greatly from informal to elegant.
Christmas Stockings
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Modern Christmas stockings are manufactured with a "cookie-cutter" uniformity from fluffy red and white faux fur fabric. Traditional decorating with stockings utilizes stockings that appear more like real stockings, usually knitted from wool. Red and white are the traditional stocking colors but they may be seen in a variety of other colors, just as if the stockings actually belonged to different family members. Stockings are normally hung over the fireplace or from a shelf to represent a fireplace mantel. For decorating purposes, it is visually interesting to include items peeking out of the top of the stockings, such as dolls and stuffed animals.
Food as Décor
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Originally many of the Christmas decorating elements were food-based. Christmas trees were decorated with apples; not only were they plentiful after fall but it was also a reminder of Adam and Eve's Tree of Knowledge. Stringing popcorn as garlands across the tree is reminiscent of Victorian and early American Christmas decorating. Orange pyramids are an eighteenth century English tradition, according to the Dream Home Decorating website. Oranges are arranged on a plate to form a three-level pyramid with orange leaves or other greenery. The aroma of the oranges is maximized by studding them with whole cloves. Gingerbread is a favorite during the winter season, used as decorated cookies strung on a tree or tucked into wreaths or as a gingerbread house festively decorated with colorful candies.
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References
- At Home with Kim Vallée: Christmas Décor Trends from Christmasworld 2009
- OrnamentShop: Origins of the Christmas Tree
- ChristmasLore: The Christmas Ornament Tradition -- A Treat for Every Child
- DreamHomeDecoating: Christmas Decorating Ideas -- Orange Pyramids
- Library of Congress: Everyday Mysteries -- Who Invented Electric Christmas Lights?
Resources
- Photo Credit christmas decorations image by Jim Parkin from Fotolia.com
