I have ALWAYS wanted to make spun cotton ornaments!! It took me years (over 10 to be exact) of off and on study, to finally gather enough information to feel comfortable in making them in the proper manner to truly call them "spun cotton" ornaments
It is believed that Spun Cotton ornaments began in 19th century Germany. All manner of shapes were made from cotton batting that was hand-molded around wire forms to create Christmas ornaments, animals and the like. I have always loved them and wanted to be able to make them in as close to the traditional way as possible. Unfortunately, finding out what, exactly, is the traditional way of making them was not an easy task. SO..I've taken what is known and mixed it with my own personal style and created these sweet little Snow-Folke.
Each one is hand made, by me, with many, MANY layers of organic cotton roving over a traditional wire armature. I then add a bit of paint (not much as I really like them as simple as possible) then add tiny black glass eyes and grapevine noses & arms and finish each with a simple wool scarf. I then sprinkle on a bit of vintage German Glass Glitter for that fresh snow sparkle. Their adornments vary but everything is fresh from our snowy woods. A bit of cedar or pine, some winterberries, a small hickory nut and a twirl of grapevine for a cane. Dickens has a tiny vintage bottle brush tree accompanying him :).
POTTER, POE & WILDER are approx. 3 1/2" tall and come nestled into a tiny little Cloche with a zinc bottom and Plexiglas top. Dickens measures 4" tall and would not fit in his cloche so he had to have a special wood base painted and aged for him (I guess he wanted to be different :~).
I've named them after my favorite Authors...Dickens, Potter, Wilder & Poe. Take a close look at the photo's so you can see the personality and accompaniments for each sweet little fellow or lass.
**I'll be packing these sweet fellows carefully and sending them on their way to you by the end of the day on Monday, December 18th**
