Exploring Christmas Craft Books by Folks at Colonial Williamsburg

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      "The Art-Full Tree" is a lovely compilation of ornamental folk art crafts for the decorating of your Christmas tree. For every small handcraft, authors also include a brief history behind the folk art that influenced the design of each ornament. Great care was given to the photography and general presentation of each miniature assignment. The book was obviously organized and written by educators and I would recommend it to both professional educators and homeschooling parents for this reason. Teach your young students "how" folk artists see their world and encourage them to do the same through the completion of 33 simple object lessons. For ages 10 and up.

"Christmas Decorations from Williamsburg's Folk Art Collection: Step-By-Step Illustrated Instructions for Christmas Ornaments That Can Be Made at Home" by Colonial Williamsburg Foundation" is strictly a craft methods manual for children with drawn illustrations in black and white. It is primarily the kind of book that educators use in order to help students visualize how something is put together without over interpreting the way the item "should" look. It does include a few notes at the back of the book describing the reasons for the development of the ornaments.

      Both volumes were compiled by staff at Colonial Williamsburg who decorate their Christmas trees annually with handmade items made from natural materials. These items were and still are inspired by the folk art collections from the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum. A museum that is located within the ground of Colonial Williamsburg.

      I find this little workbook helpful in that it enables me to build a substantial collection of methods lessons for young students. However, I can understand why most people purchasing craft books would find it's contents too unsophisticated when compared with craft books published today. The newer volume, "The Art-Full Tree." is by far superior, both in content and visual information. It is not the same material, however, and that is why I chose to purchase both books. The projects are not repeated in either book.

 
More Articles Relating To Christmas in The American Colonies:

• 10 Things You Didn't Know About Christmas
• When Americans Banned Christmas
• Christmas During Colonial America

See the many Christmas trees of Colonial Williamsburg.
 Learn how the decorations are chosen for each tree and the
meanings behind them. For more information on Colonial
Williamsburg's holiday events,
visit www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/holidays.