Making the Piece
I began by choosing a textured card stock for my cones. I then mixed several colors of acrylic paint and painted my paper. If you look closely, you can see the undercoat showing through here and there, giving the paper an antique look. I painted all the paper I needed at once so this set is cohesive and unique. I assembled the cones, each with a golden tassel on the bottom, and cut holes for the handles. Luckily, the chenille stems I got for the handles are a tarnished gold metallic, so I didn’t have to distress them. I let the paint dry and harden for a couple of days.
Victorian Kids and Bears
Meanwhile, I scanned and reduced some of my Victorian portraits of children with teddy bears. I cropped them into an oval shape, printed them, cut them out, and decoupaged them to the fronts of the cones. After that dried for a day or so, I applied a layer of glue around the photo and poured white German glass glitter over it. I was going for the look of snow drifted around a window.
Bears
While the cones dried on the tree, I worked on the bears that would go in each cone. Now, for my own purposes, I like to put miniature bears from my collection in cones and decorate a little tree with them. But, since this is a piece for an auction that will be shipped and moved around, the bears must be permanently attached. No need for legs, because you would never see them. That made my job a little easier.
The bears are needle felted from combed wool. It takes around two hours to sculpt each little bear and I usually only do one in an evening to be kind to my hands. I then embroider the nose and mouth and sink tiny onyx beads into the head for shiny little eyes.
Topper
I needed a topper. It took me awhile to decide just what to do, but I ended up with a polar bear – the bear that lives at the top of our world. It had to fit over the top spike of the tree, so I carved a felting form from upholstery foam. I felted over this form to make the body of the bear hollow. When it was finished, I coiled a chenille stem and fitted it inside the body. That keeps it stable on the tree. Again, onyx beads for eyes and embroidered nose and mouth. I also hand painted some black skin showing through on his nose and inside of his ears. I made a star wand for him to hold in his left paw to represent the Star of the East. It’s also encrusted with German glass glitter.
Tie a Ribbon
I wanted each ornament to have some red to add color and further tie everything together. Silk ribbon is soft and drapes nicely on tiny bears. It was a bit difficult to find the 7mm red silk ribbon I wanted since a lot of shops have stopped carrying it. I finally was able to buy a package in a shop in Ames. I tied bows around the bears’ necks.
Candy Canes
To fill up the cone, I dyed cotton pipe cleaners red and twisted them with white ones to make candy canes. I glued these into the back of the cone, adjusting the position when I glued the bear in place. To fill in and cover the base of the bear, I glued a length of fluffy sparkly red trim to the inside rim of the cone. Continuing the theme and to fill in the spaces, I made ornaments that are miniatures of more Victorian photos of children and teddy bears from my collection.
About the Feather Tree
I bought the 36 inch tall feather tree from Bob Simpson, a retired gentleman who makes the trees by hand and sells them, often offering them on eBay. I especially love the base on this one. I have tried to make a small feather tree, an endeavor that has made me appreciate Bob's craftsmanship! You can reach Bob at rsimpson14@neo.rr.com.
