Make your own Victorian Christmas decorations
Let’s get traditional with a genuinely Victorian Christmas! See how to make Victorian Christmas decorations so pretty your tree will feel like it stepped into the late 19th century.
See also: traditional Victorian Christmas games and traditions
Cornucopia of Roses – Victorian Christmas Decoration
Isn’t ‘cornucopia’ a lovely word? In classical mythology, a cornucopia was a horn that contained food and drink in endless supply. Today, it means rich and varied abundance – and what we have here, in our cheaply pre-brought crocheted cones, is a cornucopia of musty, faded dried roses. Life, death and decay and ghostly Miss Haversham weddings all wrapped up in a satin bow on your Christmas tree! What could be finer?
You’ll Need:
- 2 yards 3 inches of very thin mauve or faded dusky pinksatin ribbon
- Tape measure
- Scissors
- 5-inch crocheted cone
- Hot glue gun, glue sticks
- a selection of dried and brushed gold rosebuds (or you can use silk roses – the smaller the better, and aim for faded Victorian colours like mauve or dusty rose
- Wire cutters (or scissors you don’t mind blunting)
- 9 silk rose leaves (optional. These are yet another expensive, so alternatively simply locate pretty dried leaves on the ground – or go for evergreen ivy leaves or fir / spruce from the back of the Christmas tree)
How to make this Victorian Christmas decoration
1. Cut ribbon into the following lengths: 9 inch, 12 inch, and three 18 inch.
2. Starting at lowest point of cone mouth, weave 9-inch length of ribbon around top edge.
3. Trim excess ribbon, and spot glue ends in place.
Weave ribbon into cone to create your lovely Victorian decoration.
4. Mix dark and light rosebuds. Twist stem ends together and, about 2 inches from bottom of flowers, bend the stems back on themselves so length is less than 3 inches. If necessary, clip stems with wire cutters to shorten.
5. Insert flowers into cone. Spot glue a few roses around cone to hold. Clip stems from rose leaves. Glue leaves into bouquet around edges.
Insert flowers into cone to make Victorian ornament.
6. To make a hanger, fold the 12-inch length of ribbon in half. Make an overhand knot near open ends. Glue folded end to cone where you started ribbon weaving.
7. Overlap 18-inch ribbon lengths, and make a 2-inch bow. Glue bow on top of hanger end.
Christmas Bonnet – Victorian Christmas Decoration
Bonnets aren’t twee unless the girl who wears them is twee. Everyone secretly loves a hat. If you can’t be bothered with all the beads in this how-to guide, simply used faded roses instead – either silk or dried.
You’ll Need:
- 22 clear beads, 8mm each
- 4-inch crochet hat
- Hot glue gun, glue sticks
- 3 glass ball picks, 15mm each
- Wire cutters
- 2 rose leaves, 1/2 inch each
- 30 inches quite thin satin mauve ribbon, about 1/8 inch wide
- Tape measurek
- 20 inches very thin satin mauve ribbon
How to make this Victorian Christmas decoration
1. Glue 8mm beads around base of hat crown.
2. Clip wires off glass ball picks. Glue glass balls together at crown base, next to 8mm beads.
3. Clip stems from leaves. Glue leaves in an attractive arrangement next to glass balls.
4. Cut 1/8-inch ribbon into two 15-inch lengths. Make a 3/4-inch-diameter loopy bow from a 15-inch length of ribbon. Tie off loopy bow with second 15-inch length of ribbon. Trim all ends even. (See below for instructions on how to make a loopy bow.) Glue bow to side of glass balls.
Place ribbons onto hat ornament.
5. For a hanger, double 20-inch length of ribbon and thread it through brim, a few inches from glass balls. Tie an overhand knot near ends.
To Make a Looping Bow
1. Cut the ribbon to the specified length.
2. Find an object that is approximately the same diameter as the loop of the bow. (Your fingers can work well for this: one for a small loop, two for a larger loop.)
3. Leaving about 1 inch free, wrap the ribbon around the object. Leave another inch free at the end. Cross the two free ends over the loop.
Wrap the ribbon around your fingers to create an elegant bow.
4. Insert a smaller piece of ribbon through all the loops. Bring this ribbon around, and tie it in a knot.
5. Pull the bow from the object, and separate the loops in an attractive arrangement.