If there is one thing I love about the Victorians, it would have to be their frugality and ingenuity when it came to recycling. I have an enormous collection of antique Christmas ornaments from about 1870 to 1906, and it is endearing to me how old pieces of Jewelry, wrapping papers, ribbons and cutouts from chromolith trading cards all were saved for later. Nothing went to waste! Items that were considered old junk or throw away were made into objects of beauty and later reused in holiday celebrations. This applied to all holidays, not just Christmas. The paper cone is also known as the "May basket or the Tussie Mussie", depending on it's season of use and adornment.
I love to craft my things in the same way and I spend hours creeping through the attic of my childhood home, ( a large Victorian farm house), and hours searching antique markets looking for sweet finds. All of my Victorian paper cones or scrap ornaments are crafted in the same style and tradition as their Victorian counterparts. The paper cones are always loaded with antique and vintage finds and will usually include some valuable antique ornaments, antique glass jewelry and chromolith scraps. The large, aqua colored cone here features a large, antique mercury glass ornament and two smaller vintage glass ornaments from the 1930's.
I generally try to preserve the integrity of the antique ornaments if I can and keep them firmly fastend to the piece, yet detachable and not glued into it. I still have an antique lover's passion for these things and it sickens me to ruin them for the "sake of art". Watch for some of my Victorian, spun glass bird cones coming shortly.....they feature rare, hard to find glass birds with spun glass tails. This year, I found a treasure trove, and I mean treasure trove, of antique Christmas things. I'm really excited to show them.
All of my cone ornaments would be great in a shabby chic setting, on a tree or hanging on a knob somewhere in your home.
All of these ornaments will be priced accordingly to the vintage and antique findings they are loaded with. The cones you see featured here are currently for sale at wsoapp.com
Very soon, you will be able to view my work in sets on flickr. com. I have chosen to use this site as a way for my customers and friends to view my complete, online portfolio
