Ideas for decorating Christmas trees with vintage ornaments can fill entire magazines, let alone individual articles. This year, many budgets find strapped and decorated dollars earmarked for more practical gift ideas. Pulling out attic boxes is a way to go green by using old stuff to usher in the spirit of the season.
Favorite Christmas tree decorations from past holidays: Bubble Lights
During the 1960s, bubble candles were all the rage. A cylindrical glass tube filled with oil would bubble when it reached a certain temperature and illuminate the colored oils inside. The plastic bases of these lights were made of red, yellow, green and other Christmas colors. These original vintage ornaments are highly collectible and have been known to get hot and start fires, so using the originals as Christmas tree decorations may not be wise. However, safe reproductions are available, so those looking to recreate past Christmases can still capture the vintage feel of bubble candles in trees and greenery without burning the house down.
Vintage 1960s Ornaments and Lamps: Foam Covered Snowball Candles
The late 1960s and early 1970s brought in white foam-covered lamps in the same size and shape as snowballs. These string lights looked best on cedars and fir trees and captured the hearts of many small children whose favorite past time was eating the foam from the outside of the lights. Baby Boomers remember the lamps, but they didn’t last as long as other types because once the foam was scraped off, they lost much of their appeal.
Christmas tree decorations that glow in the dark: icicles and plastic decorations
The 1960s and 1970s brought new Christmas tree decorating ideas and inventions in the form of glow-in-the-dark opaque plastic. Shops sold stars, clocks, Santa clips, candy and other novelties that, once the lights were out, continued to glow from the phosphorescence they collected in daylight. Even icicles, made of glowing plastic, hung from tree branches and mantle greenery. Glow-in-the-dark ornaments and icicles have steadily graced vintage ornament collections due to their creative use in today’s holiday decor.