Vintage Ceramic Christmas Tree

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know many of you reading this have one of these ceramic Christmas trees. Obviously, I do as well so why not take the time now to document its origins.

I moved from Georgia to Virginia in 1979, after five years of encouragement from a friend I grew up with in Atlanta. In the early 1980s, I often spent weekends at her mother’s house, about 20 minutes from mine. Her mother had her own ceramic studio set up in the basement, including a kiln, molds, and all the supplies needed to make Christmas themed items. She allowed me to make whatever I wanted, and I paid her for supplies and the use of her electricity. Late summer, my friend and I met at her mother’s house to start pouring whatever pieces we wanted to make that year. While we worked, we played Christmas music and sang along at the top of our lungs. It was the only way I could listen to Christmas music earlier than late November and we really had a good time!

We started by mixing the slip with water until the consistency was right, then poured the slip into the molds for ornaments, Christmas trees, and other decorative pieces. We next bound the molds with large rubber bands and set them aside to dry. Once dry, we scraped and sanded the rough edges of the mold seams, and then cleaned them with water and a sponge until each piece was smooth and clean. Small items like ornaments dried quickly, but larger pieces like the tree took longer, so we often poured on one weekend and cleaned on another. We had to remember to poke holes in the ornaments for the hooks and on the trees for the lights, although I do not remember if that was done while the slip was wet or dry. If I recall correctly, we only fired the tree once, vs. firing to bisque, glazing with the green paint, and then firing again. You had to be very careful when handling the tree before it was fired though, as it was very fragile at the point. One wrong move and a finger might go through the piece, forcing you to start all over again. The firing process took several hours and was not done until the kiln was full, so we usually left our pieces and my friend’s mother fired them before we returned the next weekend. Once fired, the tree was assembled with the electrical parts and lights. The tree itself consists of two pieces, a base, and the tree. When you turn the light on that is hidden inside the tree, the plastic lights shine in all different colors. 

I remember making two, one for myself and one for my mother-in-law. My oldest son now has one of the two. Mine sits on top of a dark red doily my mother made several years ago and I consider both the tree and the doily to be family treasures. 

As mentioned above, we made hundreds of ceramic Christmas ornaments, which were shared with family and friends. Many still hang on my tree today. You can see five of them on a December 2016 Christmas tree of memories blog post (a little past mid-way through the post). I also bartered a deal with a co-worker when I needed help with sewing a cross-stitch Christmas stocking I made for my oldest son Chris. I made her 12 ceramic Christmas ornaments and in exchange, she turned my work of art into a stocking. It was a deal made in heaven for me. You can see Chris’ Christmas stocking on a December 2015 blog post.