A Very Tudor Christmas at the Fort

 

The mantel was lined with the Ivy, Juniper, Blue Spruce and Holly then Pomegranates and Cloved Oranges laid about with candles in Glasses. a small Greenery sag was hung above the mirror that is in front of the candles on the wall. Mulled Wassail Cider was kept near the fire for every one to drink.

 I made the swag that hangs from the beam of the ceiling  with all the same greenery by using large, long. thick pieces of Ivy I was able to use less wire to assemble the swag.

 

I ran a wire across the door with the Ivy on it to hag the kissing ball from it.  I didn't have a willow in my yard so I used Wisteria vine for the base frame of the ball.

 

All the shelves I adorned with the greens of the season.

 

An Ivy and Juniper wreath hung on the door with some small swags on either side of the door as well. It shaped itself as a heart, I didn't do that.

 

 

A Kissing ball was hung but only not very used this time It was made of Ivy and Wisteria vine, with some brass bells in side of it.

 

The Wreath on the wall is made up of Holly, Ivy, Juniper, and Blue Spruce.

This last photo we have electric lights hooked up so we can see our cards as we play board games and games.

 

The Holidays just wouldn't be the same with out the help I get decorating  

and one decoration even moves around while the tree rotates. 

Back to the Beach

 

I like this one a lot and it was so easy 

 

 I made this using a empty ribbon spool for the center core

Christmas presants from years past on my mothers tree

 

I made this ornaments 20ish years ago

 This is an Ornement that came from a pre printed fabric 18ish years ago. I have a full set at my house this is one I gave my mother

 

Again I made this 20ish years ago

Photos of Lewis and Clark Campus in the snow

The Lewis and Clark campus an be very pretty at times even though I would rather it be smaller and easier to navigate.

Roman Style Bow Fibulae Broches & Penannular Brooches (Cloak Pins)

Roman style bow fibulae brooches were the first safety pins. They were used to hold clothes on. They are strong enough to be used as a cloak pin. I taught these as a basic beginners class on pins. we used hard brass wire and in one here I used a bead that I lamp worked

 http://www.uq.edu.au/antiquities/95-086a
 http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=phrygian%20fibula
 http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/196463
http://clioantiquities.wordpress.com/2013/08/20/roman-bronze-fibulae-brooches/
http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections?ft=*&what=Fibulae

The second half of the class was penannular brooches (Cloak Pins) using copper wire and or hard brass wire. This style was common in the Viking era however these could be much more ornate or plain as this. These continued to be used in the Britain area though out medieval times.

http://www.metmuseum.org/search-results?ft=penannular&x=0&y=0

Medieval Wire Ring

 Here is a ring I taught in class this weekend at the Midrealm's first Fire Arts Symposium  {Barony of the Flame} [Vine Grove, KY].
It is based on a ring in the Antiquities collection of

see link below.

http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/429904

 http://finds.org.uk/database/images/image/id/317317

Anglo-Saxon

 Date from: Circa AD 550
Date to: Circa AD 800

 

What I find most interesting about the original find is that it is in square wire. I used cheep round German Silver plated copper wire for this one.

Here is a simpler, similar one that appears to be in round wire
http://finds.org.uk/database/images/image/id/43974

http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/73303