That’s right… All the gold, sword and glitter that fills the world of commerce at the beginning of November to set the mood is actually quite soulless and fake. The spirit is rather homemade, in meaning and in stories.
Our background as Estonians lies in the back rooms of farmhouses, where there was no glitter. The grandest beauty of the Christmas season was the brightness of peeled reeds against a dark log wall. A reed Christmas crown was always made by hand, together with the family, and even children could manage it. Stories say that these crowns kept evil away. They were placed in the house so that anyone entering the room would notice them immediately, allowing the crown to catch any potential evil eye.
A Christmas crown is simple by nature, with reeds arranged into an octagonal ornament. At the same time, if there are more makers, dozens of tiny crowns can be woven together, and the result can even resemble a manor house chandelier. To spice it up with color, you can hang a few homemade candies, strips of cloth, pieces of yarn, or feathers.
A Christmas crown undoubtedly belongs to my own childhood Christmas time as well. Reeds gathered from the shores of Saaremaa were carefully peeled until the golden-glowing interior was revealed. We wove them together into a crown at my grandmother’s house, and to this day, it remains one of the most authentic Christmas memories of my childhood. Although back then, due to the political regime, they were called New Year’s crowns instead J
This year-end, I invite you to recreate that homemade holiday feeling. Take an hour amidst the year-end hustle with your colleagues. Let’s sit down, look each other in the eye, and let our fingers work. The secretary won’t have to worry about what color glass baubles to buy for the office ceiling this time; together, we can arrange several small crowns into a cool, handmade office decoration.
No, you don’t have to go out and rustle the reeds yourself. Õrreke will bring everything you need. You just call us and gather the team. Believe me, even the most skeptical colleague will find joy; there is simply such power in crafting with your own hands.
And if you happen to like those Chinese glass baubles too, you can hang them on the Christmas crown as well!
PS! And if you’re going to sell the idea of Christmas crafting to the boss, you can approach them with the argument that this way your team can help mitigate the climate catastrophe and protect the environment just a little bit. They simply won’t be able to say “no” to that!
