2010-12-06

December 6th

** Welcome to my little Christmas blog! Here you'll find something Christmassy every single day until the big celebration on 25th of December! Some of the things I have created myself and some have been made by you, my dearest readers!
Thank you and Happiest Holidays!**

DECEMBER 6th

I have many memories of my family Christmas decorations, but one of the earliest is of red-white birds made by my mom. They were cut of dark red cardboard and they had white wings made of beautiful lace-edged paper, those round ones you place under the cakes. I remember very vividly how the birds were twirling slowly in our windows as they were hung up over the radiators. I asked my mom and oh, she still had a few birds left!
Here is the original from early 1980s:

The cake paper is a bit yellow already but they still swirl beautifully!


You'll need:

cardboard (I chose blue this time as it's our Independence Day today
and the Finnish colors are blue&white)
round cake paper or you can cut these out of tissue paper
or any paper you like
scissors
pen
thread for hanging
needle (makes it easier to put the thread through wings)
optional: double-sided tape


Draw a birdie on the cardboard. I used my mom's as a pattern, but made the tail a bit bigger this time. I hope you draw better than me! The hole on the birdie is for the paper-wing, very important! Cut the first birdie and you can use it as a model for the next ones.

Then it's time to fold the wings! Start from any edge of your round paper and fold it all the way until the next end. You can choose the width of the fold - as long as it'll fit through the hole you have cut into your birdie!



After the folding stick the neat paper pack though the birdie's wing-hole, fold in half and voila, you have a pretty birdie almost ready to fly!



I used some double-sided tape between the wings in the middle to keep them together, and pushed the needle and white thread through all the papers. The birdie is ready!



Mine twirl over the lace advent candles beautifully!

Where would yours fly?


Happy 6th December
and
Finnish Independence Day!

Yours,
Mia

18 comments:

Jane said...

Good morning Mia, Happy Independence Day! These are brilliant birdies, I will definately be making some as I have paper doilies sitting in my drawer, with no cakes to put on them, and plenty of card. Thank you for sharing another super Christmas craft.Your Mum must be delighted to see her ideas come to life again!
Enjoy your celebrations.
Love Jane x

Mia said...

Thank you, Jane!

And I was thinking if these would be called doilies as I wrote the post but wasn't sure :) Good to know. I like these birdies as they're easy and quick to make and cheer up the windows!

Happy and crafty week - I am off to prepare a celebration-meal!

Yours,
Mia

Unknown said...

Hi Mia - this is great (inexpensive) Christmas craft project to be doing on a cold, Wintry day. Thanks for sharing it.

Jill x

Anonymous said...

Happy Independence Day Mia !!!
Love the little birdies, they remind me of doves with their lovely tails! :)
This would be a great craft for children to make.
Have a great day and enjoy your celebrations!!
Vivienne x

Mia said...

Thank you, Jill - that's just what I thought too :)

Happy Monday!

Yours,
Mia

Mia said...

Thank you, Viv!

These little birdies are just so cheerful!

And you too, enjoy your new week!

Yours,
Mia

Pam said...

Happy Independence Day Mia! Love those birds and would be great to make with children.
P xx

Karen said...

Happy Independence Day, Mia. Your birds are so cute - will have to try this later if my Mum has any doilies I can pinch! Have a lovely day. Karen X

Anne said...

I love birds and I love those colors. (perfect for Independence Day) Thank you Mia and your Mom for sharing this Christmas craft. Have a wonderful celebration with your family and friends!


Anne at PlumCreek

Teje said...

Hello Mia and Happy Independence Day! Do you light 2 candles on the window in the evening?
These birds are so beautiful! Thank you for sharing!
xxx Teje

Mia said...

Thank you Pam!

And I'll e-mail you in a minute too, you had a postman visiting... :)

Yours,
Mia

Mia said...

Hi Karen,

These birds are so great to make and easy with children too! Colors can be anything you love :)

Happy week!

Yours,
Mia

Mia said...

Thank you, Anne!

We have a great family dinner and we're next off to sauna!

Lovely week!

Yours,
Mia

Mia said...

Hi Teje,

And happy Independence Day to you too :)

Yes, we have two (half white-half blue) candles on the windows, we light them at 6 o'clock in the evening!

Have a great week!

Yours,
Mia

Helen Philipps said...

I really love these little birdies! I especially like decorations that move a little by themselves, as these will. How lovely that you are continuing your mother's tradition, too. Happy Independence Day - I hope you have a lovely time!
Helen x

Mia said...

Thank you so much, Helen!

These birds are so easy and quick to make and they're so pretty still. My favorite kind of crafts, really!

I am soon off to continue our celebrations, happy week to you!

Yours,
Mia

Anonymous said...

These are lovely and made even nicer knowing they hold such special childhood memories. Bethx

Mia said...

Thank you, Beth!

Have a wonderful and crafty week - Christmas is almost here!

Yours,
Mia

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