How-To Instructional Videos and Reproduction Ornament Directions are now up on my Spun Cotton Class Member Site

Merry Christmas to all of my spun cotton ornament students!  As my present to you all this year, I have purchased two months of video capability for the class site and posted three instructional videos; Making a Human Wire Armature, Basic Spun Cotton Instructions, and Another Method For Spinning Cotton and How to Fix Trouble Spots.  These are a great refresher for those of you who have taken a “live” class from me here at my studio or at the Brookfield Craft Center, and a chance to see spinning in action for all of you who have taken my Class by Mail.

Pop in at the class site soon!  The videos are only available for viewing through February 5th, 2012.  While you are at the Ning site, be sure to take advantage of the newly added directions for making a reproduction of the antique spun cotton boy in this previous post.

If you are one of my students  who has not already signed up for the class member only site, I strongly urge you to do so.  You are missing out on lots of great information and best of all it’s entirely free for all class members.

Email me at paula@asweetremembrance.com if you are a student who needs an invitation to the class site.  Be sure to include the approximate date that you took/purchased the class so that it will be easier for me to look you up in my records.  Also for those who have already signed-up for the Ning site but can’t remember how to get there, I am happy to send you a reminder 🙂

If you haven’t taken my class yet, this is a great time to do so!  Click here to visit my website A Sweet Remembrance, where you can purchase my Class by Mail. There is still time to receive your class before Christmas if you buy it in the next few days.  Don’t miss out on this opportunity to watch the video instructions (which will be unavailable after 2/5/12).

Antique Inspiration

This is the most recent addition to my collection of antique spun cotton ornaments. I think that this chubby checked boy , dressed in red and white crepe paper, is in wonderful condition considering that he has celebrated 100 or so Christmases.

I was delighted to find this spun cotton ornament on Sunday, when I went to the Jenny Lind Doll Club’s annual Doll Show in Southbury, CT.   I wasn’t expecting to see any antique or vintage Christmas items, so he was a wonderful surprise.  I think he is quite adorable,  so much so that I plan to make reproductions of him for Christmas this year.  I’ll also be posting directions for creating a replica on my Spun Cotton Ornament class member only site for all of my students.

Cute from every direction!

Here he is again, along with two tiny vintage evergreen trees that I also bought at the show on Sunday. If you are wondering about the chest he is standing in front of, it's a small 2 drawer antique chest that I painted with mural like scenes of the Peaceable Kingdom.

Online Show and Sale June 24-26

Please come join me on Friday June 24th at 8 p.m. Eastern Time for the opening night of my online, web only, show and sale.  Rather than traveling to a show, stay comfortably at home and still have a great time shopping for dolls, antique bears and toys, vintage and antique cooking items, small handcrafted treasures, and more.

The show will be posted on my blog, www.paulawalton.com.  You will be able to view the show by visiting paulawalton.com from 8 p.m. Eastern Time on June 24th through 10 p.m. Eastern Time June 26th.  Purchases will be on a first come basis.  If you see something you would like to buy, you can either email me at paula@asweetremembrance.com or call me at 860-355-5709, please no phone calls before 9 a.m. or after 10p.m. Eastern Time.   I will be accepting checks, money orders and Paypal for payment.  You may also place items on lay away.  If you would like to pay using Paypal, I will invoice you.  If you wish to pay with a credit card, you may do so through Paypal as a guest – you do not have to open a Paypal account.

As always everything, except carousel horses, will include free shipping.  If it is possible for you to come pick your purchases up in person, then I will subtract a bit from your total 🙂

Want to make sure that you don’t forget to come to the show???  Sign up for my mailing list and I will send you a reminder 🙂

My Spun Cotton Library

1/24/10 I’ve received a couple of very nice notes from Connie Johnson, that  included two additional book titles and an excellent website address.  Thank you Connie for sharing!  I’ve added Connie’s information to this post and ordered both of the books that she recommended.

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You have probably all noticed that there is very little information about spun cotton ornaments in print.  I have been hunting for books and magazine articles on the topic for many years.

Here is a list of the information and photographs that I have found.  I’ll be updating this post when I come across new material.  Almost all of the following books and magazines are out of print, but you may still be able to find copies with a little work.

In the Time-Life book there is a tantalizing mention of  “American ladies’ magazines of the period” that gave instructions for creating cotton ornaments.  I have yet to find any such instructions, but I haven’t given up the search!

Books

American Country- A Country Christmas by Time-Life Books, pages 146 & 147.  Three paragraphs of information and two great photographs of antique people, animal, fruit and vegetable ornaments.

Country Home An Old-Fashioned Christmas by Meredith Corporation Books copyright 1992, pages 92 & 93.  Four paragraphs of information and two nice photographs of people, animal, fruit and vegetable ornaments.

Deck the Halls – Treasures of Christmas Past by Robert M Merck.   Six pages of spun cotton ornament photographs with captions.

Christmas Past by Robert Brenner.  Eleven pages of information and photographs.

Magazines

Early American Life, December 2001, cover plus pages 34 & 35.  Article – A Spirit of Stewardship The Conant Tavern by Gladys Montgomery Jones, photographs by Craig Becker.  Cover photo, plus two additional photographs of people, vegetable and fruit ornaments.  If you happen to read my Izannah Walker blog too, you may recognize this same article listed there because there is a photograph of an Izannah Walker doll in it.  Obviously Dianne and Arnie Halpern, whose home is the focus of the article, are my kind of people! 🙂  They even have some of the original stencilling remaining on their walls.

Early American Life, Christmas 2005, pages 63, 64 & 65.  Photographs of new spun cotton ornaments in the Directory of Traditional American Crafts – Holiday.  My ornaments are the ones pictured on pages 64 & 65.

Early American Life, Christmas 2008, page 10.  Photographs of two spun cotton girls, along with many other antique ornaments.  Pages 52 & 67, photographs of several new spun cotton ornaments in the Directory of Traditional American Crafts – Holiday.

Early American Life, Christmas 2009, pages 7, 8 & 9, excellent close-up photos of  16 antique spun cotton ornaments.  Page 59, photo of five new spun cotton ornaments in the Directory of Traditional American Crafts – Holiday.  This is another magazine that may look familiar to followers of www.izannahwalker.com.  It’s the same issue of Early American Life that my article on Common Linen Dolls appears in.

Websites

Vintage/ Antique/ Old Christmas Ornaments – Homepage of Barbara Romer      www.christmas-past-collector.com/gallery

* A new website to check out www.christmas4ever.com/folder/13.html .  Thank you Yvonne for recommending it!

Virtual Museum Tour

Here are some highlights of the New Milford Historical Society Museum’s Three Hundred Years of Christmas Traditions exhibit.  I thought you might all like a little extra dose of Christmas inspiration.  Make sure that you check out the antique spun cotton ornaments.

I snapped these photos right before I started dismantling all of the displays.   The exhibit closed on December 7th so I could return all of the borrowed items to their owners before Christmas.

(click on each photo to see them in full size)

Two for One

Quick, go take a peek at this eBay auction .  You have to hurry because the auction is over and the photos will disappear soon.  This is a great antique ornament.  It is a small boy, heavily bundled in warm winter clothing, riding on a flying goose.

I thought this was a terrific idea, why not double up your spun cotton ornament figures by making both an animal and a person and arranging them together in an action pose?  Ok, admittedly this would be twice the work, but look at how wonderful they are together!  I think this one is a keeper for the idea file.