Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Glass from the Past


















Today was one of the most fun and surprising days leading up to Christmastime at Castle in the Air, because today we opened up the a dozen boxes of German glass ornaments we had been keeping in storage for nearly twenty years. We oohed and ahhed as we carefully unwrapped each ornament from companies such as Old World Christmas, Christopher Radko, Polonaise, Christborn, and Dresden Dove. The color, whimsy, and imagination in each of the ornaments is really amazing. What's more, these vintage decorations are now sought-after collector's items which will make Castle in the Air even more of a destination for all the Santas this year. The ornaments from just one box took up all of our studio table space as we sorted and labeled them for sale.

One of the boxes contained a set of samples from Old World showing how progressive coats of paint are put on the ornaments. Between blowing the glass and painting this
involved process takes seven days, but the meticulous work pays off with a stunning ornament for the tree. The long stems are a part of each piece up until the end. As many manufacturers of German glass ornaments are family-run cottage industries, the task of trimming the stem with a pen knife often falls to the children of the house.

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