Kiitos joulukalenteriswapista! - Calendar swap items

Kiitos kaikille swappiin osallistuneille!

Here are the calendar swap items from this year. I made two Christmassy pillows, some bread, and a 3D-printed box with some beads inside, something like the ones below.



Below are two photos of the items I received.





I wanted to highlight two examples of very typical Finnish Christmas decorations that I received in our calendar swap.

The first one is 'himmeli', a straw crown or straw mobile, made from reeds, straw or other similar material bound together with string, often forming geometric shapes such as octahedrons. Such mobiles have been traditional in Northern and Eastern Europe and in some Central European countries, such as Poland and Germany, where they may serve as symbolic or religious decorations. Modern variations can be made from materials like brass or plastic.

When I was young, my mother and I made a 'himmeli' from straw and it was hung above our dining table at home.



This is the one I received in the swap.

The second decoration is St. Thomas's cross, a diamond-shaped cross made of wood shavings, originally used in the Finnish archipelago. The name refers to apostle Thomas. It was December 21st, St. Thomas's Day, that traditionally started Christmas time and protective crosses were placed on doors or windows. The model for the wood cross has been the wrought iron crosses of churches.



Here it is in miniature.