Vintage Greeting Card Christmas Ball Ornaments
This project takes treasured family correspondence and greetings out of dusty boxes and cluttered drawers, and transforms them into precious ornaments that can be appreciated every year during the holiday season or given away as gifts to family and friends.
OLD is NEW
Curating treasures doesn’t always have to refer to artfully displaying a collection of precious items. Sometimes, the creation of something new and unexpected out of those precious items is a better way to appreciate them. I am constantly attempting to quell the clutter in my studio while balancing my desire to keep nonsensical bits of paper and trinkets. Not only do I collect, but my sister can spot treasures from a mile away and often shares her finds with me. This project cleared out a box of vintage correspondence from my studio while preserving the memories of dear family members who are no longer with us. My sister discovered the greeting cards, birth announcements and letters at our great aunt’s house when she was moving. Aunt Maxine had thrown them in the trash. She too was trying to quell the clutter of a life well spent in an attempt to downsize in retirement. My sister hated to see those treasured memories lost and asked if she could keep them. She thought I would be able to make something out of them which I did.
I wanted to share this idea with you, and the easiest way to explain how to construct these vintage, Christmas ball ornaments was to show you. I’ve included a video below. The video shows me making the Christmas ball ornaments out of the cardboard box that our holiday cards came in this year. I wasn’t able to show you how to make them with vintage correspondence, because I am away from my studio at the moment. The fact that I could construct them, while on the road traveling, is a testament to how simple they are to make. I hope you give it a try!
