Merry Christmas Beautiful Beaders!
I know I’m a little premature but to be honest I can’t wait to get that wine-a-mulling and tinsel-a-trimming! Here at Riverside Towers we were just discussing what kind of Christmas trees we are all having in our homes this year. It made me wonder how the gentle fir tree came to be such an iconic and essential part of our special day.
We don’t just use it for nestling our gifts underneath. Its a symbol for so many Craft and Jewellery making projects, like my favourite Sparkle Spacer Tree Earrings.
Turns out that there are many, many stories about where the Christmas tree came from. We do know that the first Christmas Trees came to Britain sometime in the 1830s. The German Prince Albert (Queen Victoria’s hubby) had a Christmas Tree set up in Windsor Castle, and in 1848 a drawing of “The Queen’s Christmas tree at Windsor Castle” was published in the Illustrated London News.
However the origins of the magical fir date much further back than the 1800’s. The first recorded use of a tree at Christmas is supposed to have been in Latvia. The city of Tallinn claim that they put up a Christmas tree in 1441 and the city of Riga in 1510. The trees were erected by a group of local unmarried merchants called the ‘Blackheads’ who were from Livonia (what is now Estonia and Latvia).
The tradition appears to be deep rooted (pardon the pun) within the Pagan and Christian faiths. It is thought that an evergreen fir was representative of the Paradise tree. Hundreds of years ago the 24th of December was celebrated as Adam and Eve’s day. The Paradise Tree represented the Garden of Eden. It was often paraded around the town before villagers acted plays out in front of the local churches, relaying Bible stories to people who couldn’t read. So sweet!
As far as decorations go we’ve come a long way from 17th century Germany. The first Christmas Trees then were decorated with delicious goodies like gingerbread, wafers, sweets and gold covered apples.
It wasn’t until later that century that glass makers started making small ornaments similar to some of the decorations used today….although I doubt they had anything to rival our Beaded Bauble kits!!
A figure of the Baby Jesus was put on the top of the tree to begin with. Over time it changed to an angel to represent who told the shepherds about Jesus, or sometimes a star like the one the Wise Men followed.
So there you have it. Now before I shoot off on my sleigh I just wanted to remind everyone that we’ve got our own Angels for the tops of your trees/ears/cards on offer this week. TWO packs of amazing Angel charms for just £14.99. It’s a buy one get one free deal that makes up to 20 cute little angels. Click here to find out more.
Right, better start baking that Gingerbread….
Happy trimming!
xxDonna
To see Donna on Create and Craft TV go to Freesat 813 Virgin 748 Freeview 23 Sky 674