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Door Décor: Simple Holiday Gifts
| Article
# : |
14899 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
10 / 1988 |
1,357 Words |
| Author
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Florence Temko
Florence Temko is an expert craftsman and author of twenty-
three how-to books, including Paper Pandas and Jumping Frogs
(Origami and Its Uses), published by China Books and
Periodicals. |
Door decorations offer a colorful welcome to anyone coming to your home, whether you life in a city apartment, suburban house, or country cottage.
Wreaths are commonly displayed on doors during the winter holiday season, but welcoming signs in many different styles are frequently featured year-round. The four examples shown in the illustrations are designed for crafting at home; they require no special talent or special tools. They may look as though an expert artist spent hours fashioning them, but each can be completed by anyone in one two hours. The secret lies in selecting ready-made wooden cutouts of animals and symbols, which are available in many neighborhood stores. To obviate precise painting skills, each piece is painted in one color only. The cutouts are glued to wooden strips according to step-by-step directions. What could be simpler?
All four decorations are styled in autumn colors suitable for the fall season, with its emphasis on Halloween and Thanksgiving celebrations. Door decorations make wonderful gifts. They may be hung inside the house, in a hallway or in a children's room. The following decoration can be modified as Christmas presents by changing the paint and ribbon colors to red, green, gold, and silver.
Halloween Cats
The "Halloween Cats" decoration appears wholly contemporary, but the theme dates back to the pre-Christian days of the druids. This advanced, mystical society lived in the Celtic lands, now part of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. November 1 was observed as the day of Samhai, god of the dead. While celebrating this annual religious rite, druids kept black cats to scare away the ghosts of the dead. On the eve of All Hallows Day, "Halloween," evil spirits were reported to do their damage in retaliation for the honor given the Christian dead on the next day. Halloween traditions of trick-or-treating and dressing in costumes were brought to the United States by Irish immigrants.
Thanksgiving family celebration
The "Family Greeting" decoration is a truly personal expression--and easy to execute. It highlights a family photograph and features rust coloring in keeping with the Thanksgiving season.
"Six Hens" and "Country Geese" are more elaborate door decorations, but equally easy to produce.
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