Fields Of Heather

Ceramic Christmas Trees - Some History Behing The Nostalgia

Paint your own ceramics classes were the vintage version of the popular "Wine & Design" [typically painted canvas] classes today. Locally (central Pa) we have the Backwoods Ceramic Shop (find them at the Lewisburg Street Of Shops) with a fantastic facebook page showing the trees as they come out of the molds.

The Mr. Christmas company was founded by Merril Hermanson in 1933 He began by designing window displays and selling tinsel from the bed of his truck. Mr. Christmas is often credited with selling the "first" ceramic Christmas tree.

The first patent for a ceramic Christmas tree mold is said to have been issued to Atlantic in 1958. (I haven't yet found a copy of that patent)

Ceramic Christmas trees molds are generally believed to have first been made in the 1940s, after World War II. Painting your own ceramic tree was at it's peak of popularity in the 1970s, and nearly every suburban home had at least one made by a family member.

In the 1950s, after World War II, Japanese imports flooded the market. Many ceramic molds were still made in America, but there were fewer mold companies designing them.

Ceramic Molds were very popular from the 1940s all the way into the 1990s, although the popularity had tapered off in the 1980s. Ceramic Trees are still made today, many from the same molds that were used in the 1940s.
Many Ceramic Mold Companies were formed in the 1940s, in the owners garages.
IF there is a date on the bottom of your ceramic tree, it may just be the copyright date of the designs mold, not the date the tree was made.
As with the date, the "makers mark" on the bottom could be anything - it could be from the mold, it could have been added by the shop providing the class, or it could have been added by an individual taking the class.
Vintage ceramic Christmas Trees were hand-painted and glazed, so any tree that feels light, is pre-painted, or is molded from colored clay is mass produced and probably from the 1980s or later.
Not all trees were made to have lights. There were also ceramic trees meant to be used as serving dishes - the most popular being called a deviled egg holder, although it could be used to hold a variety of snack items.
The Lava Tree, and the Holly tree are two of the most unique designs.

Other Makers:

Arnels, founded in Oregon. 1953-?
Atlantic, founded in Easton Pennsylvania, 1946-2000's. The most popular, because they were around the longest. They also made trees over 22 inches tall! Atlantic copyrighted the first ceramic Christmas tree in 1958.
California, founded in California. 1945-1982
Duncan, founded in California, 1946-2020.
Holland Mold, founded in Michigan (by brothers from Austria) 1948-1990s?
Jamar-Mallory 1950's-early 1960s
Madison began founded in Wisconsin, Operated 1940-1956

Today replacement bulbs come in all shapes and colors - including Halloween skulls, bows, candles, poinsettia, birds, and even a turkey to go on top in place of the star. https://amzn.to/4alUfaF

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FB POST With More Photos -

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17UoEVxuqm/

Locally (central Pa) we have the Backwoods Ceramic Shop (find them at the Lewisburg Street Of Shops) with a fantastic facebook page showing the trees as they come out of the molds. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552597686756

· Vintage Christmas Ceramic Collectibles by Walter Dworkin

· Py Miyao Fun Kitchen Collectibles: Reference & Value Guide by Belinda Evans

· Price Guide to Holt-Howard Collectibles and Other Related Ceramicwares of the 50s & 60s by Walter Dworkin

· Napco ( A Schiffer Book for Collectors) by Kathleen Deel

Truck Thank You Note - Free SVG

Truck Thank You Note

Just a quick and simple card - the svg will cut the white part, you will want to add a rectangle in Design Space (the blue part) to glue behind the cut out piece.

I'd also add a score line in the middle, just to make it easier to fold - although that's not necessary.

Download HERE

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For more tips, tricks, tutorials, and free svgs for making cards:

https://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2024/06/making-cards-with-cricut.html

Fish Place Card - Free SVG

Simple Fish Place Card

My husband asked if I could cut "pink triangles " to designate who ordered fish, for a dinner banquet tonight.

Nope. I can't cut pink triangles. Not when I can cut fish shapes instead! Lol! I prefer the larger, paler, version - but knowing how much stuff will be on the tables, I decided smaller & brighter would be more practical.

Download the Free SVG HERE

These were to go along with the perforated tickets I made for the same banquet -

They needed tickets that once purchased could be filled out with the meal choice - with one side of the ticket staying with the purchaser, and one being turned in for the meal count.

Here's how to make perforated tickets with Cricut:

https://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2023/12/making-perforated-tickets-with-cricut.html

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The My Bookhouse Books

My Book House 6 volume series By Olive Beaupré Miller

A graduate of Smith College, Olive Beaupré Miller began writing rhymes and stories in order to entertain her young daughter (in addition to editing My Book House Miller also wrote many of the entries). After publishing three books, she founded The Book House for Children publishing company with her husband in 1919; in 1920 the first volume of My Book House (titled In the Nursery) was published.

My Book House was the first collection of children’s literature specifically arranged to meet the developing needs and abilities of children at different ages. Each entry had to meet the following three criteria (taken from Miller’s introduction):

“First, — To be well equipped for life, to have ideas and the ability to express them, the child needs a broad background of familiarity with the best in literature.

Second, — His stories and rhymes must be selected with care that he may absorb no distorted view of life and its actual values, but may grow up to be mentally clear about values and emotionally impelled to seek what is truly desirable and worthwhile in human living.

Third, — The stories and rhymes selected must be graded to the child’s understanding at different periods of his growth, graded as to vocabulary, as to subject matter and as to complexity of structure and plot.”

Eventually expanded to a 12 volume series, the original six volumes are in the public domain.

Download for free:

Vol 1 - In the Nursery https://archive.org/details/latchkeyofmybook01mill

Vol 2 - Up One Pair of Stairs https://archive.org/details/latchkeyofmybook02mill

Vol 3 - Through Fairy Halls https://archive.org/details/latchkeyofmybook03mill

Vol 4 - The Treasure Chest https://archive.org/details/latchkeyofmybook04mill

Vol 5 - From The Tower Window https://archive.org/details/latchkeyofmybook05mill

Vol 6 - The Latch Key https://archive.org/details/latchkeyofmybook06mill

On Libravox:

https://librivox.org/author/3389?primary_key=3389&search_category=author&search_page=1&search_form=get_results&search_order=alpha

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Not everyone was a fan, even in 1922 the San Francisco Bulletin reported that that the books were too good, too positive, and that any normal healthy child has streaks of good and bad, and would "crave a little of the rough stuff."

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"Right Reading For Children" was a booklet published by Mrs. Miller, explaining the "influence of reading upon children and the importance of right selection."

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Right Reading For Children

An Adress Delivered Before the Hinsdale Women's Club

by Olive Beupre Miller

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The Record, 1926

CWS Drop Down Santa Advent Calendar

2024 - NO LONGER FREE

Note - this is a HUGE project. It's 2 feet tall!

I made some adjustments - including changing things so it took 7 less mats.

The file can be purchased from Craft With Sarah here

https://www.craftwithsarah.com/product/santa-chimney-calendar/

I made a few changes. First - to make it cut on less mats.

39 mats for original upload, I made a few changes and mine will now cut on 32 mats

3 White [one piece I had to move and rotate to make it cut on the 3rd mat, rather than requiring a 4th mat for one piece that easily fit on the previous one]

2 black

1 dark red fireplace

1 lighter red for holly berries and stocking background [I changed them to the darker red. I lose the contrast, but can recut if needed - I think they will work in the darker color]

1 brown

1 peach santas nose [scrap will work]

1 peachish santas face [scrap will work]

1 light brown fireplace clock [could make black?]

1 Orange/yellow Numbers [I'm using vinyl]

1 Yellow fireplace and candle flames

1 pale pink fireplace details [I'm changing to white]

I lighter yellow fireplace and flames

1 dark green holly and stocking [scrap will work]

1 light green stocking [scrap will work - I changed it to the darker green. I'll lose the contrasting color, but I can recut if I think it needs that.]

1 purple fireplace backing [change to brown- one less mat, color doesn't matter]

12 red for 24 total boxes. Could use 8.5x11. OR - rotate and attach so 3 fit per a page, and use 9 sheets of 12x12 red.

9 red for structure, fireplace backing, etc. - slightly lighter than the boxes

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It took me an entire day just to cut this one out. It's a big project!

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MORE CHANGES:

I'm copying a post I made on facebook when I was making this:

On My "Desk" Today - Progress on The Craft With Sarah Dropping Santa Advent Calendar [I've moved this project to a living room table, partly because of it's size]

AND this is a good look at the living room before the 2025 remodel. :-)

1. This really is not as difficult as I may make it look.

2. It took most of a day to cut all the pieces. It's a BIG project. I think when completed it will be nearly 2 feet [21 inches or so] tall.

3. The boxes are really simple construction - so although they may be time consuming simply because there are 24 of them, I was able to assemble them rather efficiently on a tv tray while watching 1 tv show with my husband.

4. I used Dollar Tree Glitter vinyl for the numbers. One less thing to glue. 🙂 Definitely listen to Sarah's tip to lay the background white out, then place the numbers. I put mine in order, one on each block, on an old mat, making it easier for me to know what gold numbers went where.

5. The video is about an hour and a half long. I don't ever just sit down and work on one thing start to finish, so I'm not going to be able to answer how long it actually takes to make it. I skipped a lot of the video, and rewatched one part 3x, so far.

6. My biggest mistake - the one I may need to redo, but at the moment I am taking a break - was on the large back structures. That's the part of the video I watched 3x, and now that I have successfully completed one, it's SO simple, it just took my brain a bit to retain important details. For one side, I glued the side pieces on upside down. That makes it completely wonky, and I'll likely recut those pieces and try again.

This is what I mean about gluing the side pieces on upside down. The one on the left is done correctly, and forms neat boxes. The one on the right is all wonky, because I glued the sides on upside down.

7. I made my chimney all black. This was a good decision based on supplies on hand, and cost of paper [black is very inexpensive from wal-mart] but I think I'll like the look better in red. So the black may be my practice chimney, and I'm ok with that. Obviously I needed the practice. 🙂

I'd really like to make a slightly smaller version of this - I don't need my treat boxes to be quite so large. [I fill mine with locally made chocolates]. If anyone has resized this and made it smaller, I'd love to hear what sizes worked well for you!

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MORE ADVENT CALENDARS

That I have made

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In 2022 I made this one from the Craft With Sarah Event

For a couple of years now, each December I prop this in a reverse canvas sign I had hanging in my hallway. This year in the downstairs remodel, I got rid of this canvas... so this year I want to check Hobby Lobby for a blank canvas frame just for the advent calendar. to sit in. It is quite large.

As huge as this project is, it's really quite easy to assemble. It was the very first freebie in the 2022 Craft With Sarah 25 Days of Christmas, and it was only free for 24 hours. Now the file will cost you $10 - and I won't say this often about a file this expensive, but it's really worth it. It's so well designed!

I changed the colors to match my hallway, and have this sitting inside a very large reversed canvas I made a couple of years ago.

Find the file here: https://www.craftwithsarah.com/product/giant-advent-calendar/

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The 2021 Advent Calendars

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The Tree shaped version is a FREE file from Jennifer Maker.

For me, the drawers slide out a little too easily, and this is a.. sometimes chaotic household with unlevel floors. The drawers fell out a lot. It worked much better at my moms house - where the floors are all level and there are less children running around. :-)

The Triangle version I bought because it was a good size for mailing.

All the details for both are in a post here:

https://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2021/11/making-advent-calendars.html

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