Sunday, December 23, 2018

Home-made decorations for a wartime Christmas

1. Pine trees in the countryside
Greenery could be gathered to make decorations
Adding some colour to the drab of wartime  
2. Seasonal wreaths were fashioned from twigs and plants
They could be placed on doorways or graves of relatives
3. Wartime decorations could be cheaply made at home
Silver stars could be made from cardboard and tinfoil
3. Home-made wartime decorations could be edible.
Fresh eggs were rationed but could be specially decorated
They could be hung on the tree before Christmas
A special holiday treat was to unwrap and eat the eggs

4. Rationed foodstuffs could be made into decorations
Gingerbread could be shaped into hearts and decorated
Leave a hole for a ribbon to hang on the Christmas tree
5. Decorative paper chains were easily made
Cut old newspapers into shapes using a cardboard template
Then tie them together with string and ribbon
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 Christmastime during the war in Britain did not have to be without decorations. Even with rationing and many shortages it was possible for households to make their own, Some examples are shown above, recreated from suggestions found in wartime newspaper cuttings. 
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1 Comments:

Blogger ritsonvaljos said...

There are a few other ideas of how to make cheap decorations for winter in austerity Britain. This is a link to an Imperial War Museum video showing how to make austerity decorations out of brown parcel paper, string and glue:

Homemade decorations in wartime Britain (IWM)

Why not try and make some wartime decorations which the young, and the young at heart, like doing.

Happy Christmas and Season's Greetings to one and all.

Sunday, 23 December, 2018  

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