4. Tools and Technique

As in most hobbies and handicrafts, the equipment for the making of a Merry Christmas may match the taste and pocketbook of the decorator. There are few essentials. There can be, if you please, a considerable variety of tools and quantities of materials on your Christmas shelf.

The essentials include a pair of sharp pruning shears, florists' thread, wire, shellac, white paint and small amounts of other colors, silver or aluminum and gilt paints, brushes, turpentine and plaster of Paris. Sphagnum moss is also useful.

Florists' thread is far better than thin string, which breaks when tightly pulled. This thread is made in several weights, but the amateur will find No. 6, which is somewhat like a strong, fast-colored green trout-fishing line, the most suitable.

Florists' wire, cut in 12- and 18-inch lengths, is useful in many ways. It is advisable to stock various thicknesses or weights of this wire. A good working supply would include some 18-inch lengths of No. 18, 12-inch lengths of No. 20 or No. 21 and of No. 25. The lower numbers represent the heavier wire. Some may find No. 18 hard to use at first, but a little experience will make it manageable. For most purposes I prefer stiffer wire. For frames, trees and wreaths I select No. 10 or even No. 9.

Shellac may be used for other purposes than preserving fruit. The variety of paints may be wide as you please, but I recommend the smallest can of each since only a little of any one color is needed. Plaster of Paris can be obtained in packages at any hardware or drug store. These are basic supplies. Complete equipment would also include Scotch tape, cellophane, cellophane glass sips, tin cans of various sizes, half-inch galvanized wire, a package of confetti, glitter (silver decorettes), glue, toothpicks, waterproof and satin ribbon.

For most decorations it will also be well to have on hand cones in various sizes, commercially prepared magnolia leaves, artificial holly berries and the berries of bay-berry or other fruits which last well.

Aside from shears, the only tools to be used are a small pair of pliers and a drill for making holes through nuts or cones. But even these are not essential. Fingers were made before pliers, and a redhot hatpin will make neat holes through nuts or seed pods to prepare them for wiring.

Manpower may be needed for the construction of such items as bases for trees and candle boards. Any handy man can make these with common workshop tools and odds and ends of lumber. Women could do it, for that matter, but it is good strategy to give the menfolk a share in decorating for Christmas so that they will appreciate the final results.

Some people are baffled at first by wiring, but there is really no difficult trick to it. Wiring is necessary to hold fruits, cones and bows in position on wreaths and other decorations. With a little practice, wiring can be done neatly, firmly and inconspicuously. Any method is good which serves the purpose.

The weight of wire used depends on the weight of the material to be fastened. The No. 20 is strong enough to hold a white pine cone in place; heavier may be needed for the cone of the Douglas fir. Length of wire will depend on size of cone, 12- or 18-inch pieces usually suffice.

Cones are wired by wedging one end of the wire under a few lower segments, then turning it several times around the base, among the segments, until the cone is firmly attached. Even tight cones can be fastened in this way, though it is easier to wire these if a little of the stem is left on each one. When the cone is attached to the wire, there should be about eight inches of wire remaining for insertion into the greens and winding around the frame on which they are to be arranged. (Drawings 1 and 7).

In all wiring, allow for the fact that greens and the stems of plants shrink as they dry. This calls for firm work. The placing of the cones, when wired, is determined by their type. Some cones, like those of Scotch and yellow pine, may be wired and fastened upside down to the frame. This treatment gives a flat, solid appearance. A rose-like effect can be attained by cutting crosswise through large cones, then using the halves.

Bayberry, English holly and nandina may come in bunches big enough to use as individual sprays. Other berries need to be wired together for a bunched effect. A strand of No. 18 or No. 19 wire is twisted several times around the grouped stems before they are fastened where the decorator pleases. (Drawing 1).

Fruits are usually laid horizontally on the decoration, and are easy to wire in this position. The wire, an 18-inch length of No. 18, is thrust through the fruit and twisted securely behind it. (Drawing 4).

A different technique is used with grapes and cranberries. The stem end of a bunch of grapes is fastened to the frame with a 12-inch length of wire. Then close to the end of the bunch of grapes another wire, hairpin-shaped, is placed over the stem and twisted firmly to the frame. Cranberries are more troublesome. They look unnatural if wired. Yet properly used they add as much to a wreath as a sprinkling of Jordan almonds to a box of chocolates. The solution is to impale cranberries on toothpicks and then to wire them in bunches of three to the decoration. (Drawing 4).

No. 1

Twisted privet cane; completed privet frame for heavy green wreath; wire hoop for light weight wreath; wired berries, cones and greens.

No. 2

Thread fastened on frame; first bunch of greens tied in position; thread drawn tightly between stems and frame to keep from slipping, one continuous piece carried around until end; lastly, decorations are wired in position.

No. 3

Looping of ribbon for bow, one end covers the wire twisted around center; wire holds end of ribbon in position; bow fastened to wreath with wire.

It is necessary to bore holes in most nuts, acorns, some eucalyptus pods, sycamore balls, and the fruit of the sweet gum, in order to wire them. As with fruits, the wire ends should be twisted in back of the nut, where they will not show on the finished decoration. It may be easier to girdle a walnut. (Drawing 7).

The wires will show on the back of the wreath or spray, of course, but they should not stick out. It is a simple matter to turn the ends into the greens, and avoid annoying scratches and pinpricks for those who handle the decorations. Loose ends of wire may also scratch doors, or get caught in table coverings. A workmanlike job of wiring makes a neat decoration, easily handled, and unlikely to fall apart or lose shape and pattern. It really requires only a little practice to master wiring, though it may sound somewhat complicated.

After wiring, the next mechanical process is that of shellacking. A coat of white shellac gives a nice gloss, prevents loss of moisture, fills holes made by the wire and also seems to arrest the process of decay in fruits and berries. The best method is to shellac each piece after it is wired, using a small brush and protecting the worktable with sheets of newspaper. Some may prefer a sprayer, but this is more troublesome to clean than a brush. Dipping fruit, berry or cone into shellac is less desirable; it requires more shellac and the thicker resulting coat takes longer to dry and dulls the colors.

Bows of ribbon, made by looping, are given two twists of wire around the center, with enough wire to spare for fastening to wreath or spray. Sometimes the ribbon is drawn over the wire to conceal it. (Drawing 3).

Cellophane straws or glass sips are prepared for use by twisting a 12-inch length of wire around the middle of a bunch of them. When the wire is pulled tight the straws spread out from the center.

Pompons, which are pleasing in many decorative pieces, may be made of cellophane, using strips about 10 inches wide and 18 inches long. The cellophane is gathered through the center, along the length, and twisted around the center with a 12-inch wire. (Drawing 19) Tight twist-Ing, as with the straws, forces the cellophane forward into pompon shape. Leave both ends of the wire protruding, like a hairpin, so that the pompons can be fastened in place.

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