Christmas Card Embellishments at the Museum

Christmas card embellishments can easily be made with a few tiles of paper. Tiles or squares are folded, glued or interlocked to make a paper rosette or card embellishment for handmade cards.

We made a holiday card during Crafting for Christmas at the Homestead Museum.

This craft is also called tea bag folding and if it has captured you, a few card ideas and a link to the tutorial is after my story of the Homestead Museum.

Examples are shown at above.

The greeting card presentation started on the back walk to the La Casa Nueva through the back courtyard. Photo starting at the top left going clockwise. Back walkway, stairs to the second level, just to the right of the main hall rear door. Main hall rear door from the courtyard. View opposite Main Hall rear door into the back courtyard. Telephone table and Grandfather clock to the right entering the Main Hall. Calling cards tray. View of the Main Hall from the rear door. The crafting tables are set up and ready in the center. Door in the center is the Main Front door of the La Casa Nueva. Participants enjoying card making. Last image, center on left, back rear door of the main hall.

It was very exciting to spend the few hours in the house itself. The class was in the main house and it was interesting to occupy the museum house all by myself for a few minutes and with the class participants. Museums are one of my favorite places to visit.

Crafting for Christmas

See the complete directions for this simple fold at Teabag Folding Pattern – Beginners Will Enjoy This One. It can be used for any season with themed paper.

Two early 20th century homes have been restored and maintained for public events related to history. The Crafting for Christmas was an event I was able to participate in highlighting the Christmas traditions of the turn of the 19th century. My craft was the handmade greeting. Industrious homemakers created their own greetings before the printed card became the norm with companies using various printing methods.

By the 1930s greetings were massed produced and became a very popular tradition for almost any family event. New twists were introduced, the comic or humorous studio card being the biggest change breaker starting in the 1950s. One of their distinctions was the long narrow shape.

Today England is one of the countries with the biggest greeting card exchange numbers. My visit there in 2003, was noteworthy for me, because it was in England that I saw my first modern handmade cards in shops everywhere. Soon I was paper folding and making paper rosettes for my own designs. Handmade card making has come back for the turn of a new century, as artist shops, Etsy and embellishment sales can show.

Decorate your greeting using scrapbooking techniques, art journal ideas: cut outs, stamps, stickers.

The fun is endless. The examples here use old greeting cards for accents.

Tea Bag Folding Template for All Your Patterns
Use this Tea Bag Folding Pattern Template as your guide for using printed paper found in the marketplace. Tea Bag Folding can be expensive when printing or b...