By Monica Chard
Last year I attended a local Christmas fair (remember those lovely days?). As I walked amongst the many and varied stalls, I did a double take at the decorations for sale at one of them. My mother was Danish, so I was brought up with many Danish traditions, in-cluding the hand made decorations which Christmas trees are festooned with. You may have seen Frederikke Gaarn-Voizey at the Quality Fruit market where she has been shar-ing some of her Danish traditions including a range of home baked biscuits and rye bread. Her creations are organic crafts, long lasting and natural. It is a far cry from some of the instant plastic glitz available. These natural materials will not add to the plastic problem in the world. What’s more, the making of the decorations and cookies is a collective activi-ty. Crafting is of course also proven to be a positive activity for mental health, creating little things of beauty together.
I learned the art of plaiting a heart when I was only little. The photos below are of a more complex design, but I can promise the basic model is not difficult. The stars are definitely more complex. Strips of specially cut paper are woven to create a 3D star which is hung on the tree with an added string. The little felt angels have skirts made of felt, stuck inside a beech nut case which gives it stability. Fred-erikke decorates their skirts and hats with different fabric. They are a delight.
The ‘forest’ wreaths are a labour of love as each piece has to be individually stuck and chosen to create the best design.
She also has hand made felt booties which are very cute.
So if you would like some authentic Danish baked goods and decorations, head to the Quality Fruit market place Saturday 12th De-cember where you will find Frederikke.
Or get in touch directly:
gaarn_voizey@icloud.com or call 07793 065177. Angels £2, hearts £2, felt Santa hat decorations £1, stars £2, wreaths £15.