About Our Victorian Christmas Ornaments

Dresden Star Ornaments vs. Original Victorian Ornaments

Dresden Star Ornaments are not intended to be reproductions of antique ornaments. The imaginative way we use our materials makes our ornaments very inventive and elaborate. Vintage and antique materials are incorporated into each ornament, so a Dresden Star Ornament feels like an authentic, old ornament, with personality and attention to detail.

In addition, if you buy a Dresden Star Ornament you are guaranteed to have a one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted piece. Each ornament is hand-signed either by Gail or Glenn Giaimo; we are the only artists making the ornaments, thus giving us the control to ensure the very best quality and craftmanship.

In the original ornament, pictured above left, note that the glass "boat", while discolored, is still intact. The crinkle-wire around the ornament is damaged, as is often the case. The original chromolithograph ("scrap") and original rope tinsel has stayed with the ornament all these years. An antique Victorian ornament like this one, even in this condition, could be quite expensive.

Dresden Star Ornaments, pictured above right, are constructed from vintage and antique materials. All of the colorful die-cut scraps are Victorian chromolithographs. The glass ornaments used to create the Christmas ship and hot air balloon are from the '30s or earlier. Scraps, Dresden stars and old rope tinsel were carefully held in place with a durable glue. The crinkle-wire wrapped around the balloon and ship is newer, but was antiqued to match the patina of the ornaments. (We use recently-manufactured crinkle-wire to wrap our ornaments, as original tinsel wire is often too brittle and tangled to use again.) The Dresden Star Ornaments are more lively, fanciful and elaborate.

Antique Die-Cut "Scraps"
are Used to Make
Dresden Star Ornaments

At right is a sampling of Santa and angel categories from our scrap collection. Antique angels and Santas are becoming harder to find and are especially expensive to obtain.

To make an ornament, we generally start by selecting a piece of scrap from our large collection of beautiful antique diecut chromolithographs. In many cases, the scrap is the inspiration for what goes into each ornament. The majority of our scraps pre-date 1900. We have scraps of every imaginable subject, from flowers and animals to circus characters and babies. The scraps are stunning, nostalgic and whimsical; they are an essential part of what goes into a Dresden Star Ornament.

In Victorian times, scraps were extremely popular, which is why you can still find them today. Many families made their own tree decorations by combining scraps with other papers, fabric trims, and metallic tinsel garland.

Color chromolithographs were made by a process that printed 20 to 26 colors per design, every tint requiring a separate pass through the press. Heavier paper stock was used and very specialized techniques were employed to produce high-quality embossing. Chromolithographs produced after the 20's showed an increasing decline in quality due to newer processes and cheaper paper used.

Reproduction scraps are produced today in only four colors and on light-weight paper. The antique chromolithographs have beautiful depth, luster and high-quality that modern printing techniques cannot even begin to achieve today.


				About Dresden Star Ornaments News Flash! Click Victoriana Magazine to Read All About Dresden Star Ornaments in their December Issue! The idea for Dresden Star Ornaments was born out of our love for old Victorian Christmas ornaments. Unfortunately we found that many original elaborate and fantastic ornaments were hard to find. Often they were either in poor condition (broken, and/or missing parts), or in someone's personal collection, only available for viewing in books. We had been collecting bits and pieces of old Christmas tree decorations, vintage glass ornaments, and century-old diecut papers. Suddenly it occurred to us that we could make our own Victorian Christmas ornaments to hang on our feather trees. Making ornaments was so rewarding and fun that it became a home-based business. Dresden Star Ornaments may seem expensive at first glance; we hope this page helps to explain why. A great deal of effort goes into making each ornament unique and beautiful, with no two alike. The one-of-a-kind materials we use in our ornaments make them expensive to create. It is necessary to have a large inventory of vintage and antique materials to choose from. These materials can be hard to find, and some pieces are very expensive and rare. It is our passion to seek out wonderful old decorations and remake them into new creations. We came up with the name, Dresden Star Ornaments, because we use Dresden trim (pressed foil paper) from Germany to create our ornaments. In addition, Dresden Germany is the city where beautiful and intricate embossed cardboard ornaments were made between 1880 and 1910.
	Dresden Star Ornaments vs. Original Victorian Ornaments Dresden Star Ornaments are not intended to be reproductions of antique ornaments. The imaginative way we use our materials makes our ornaments very inventive and elaborate. Vintage and antique materials are incorporated into each ornament, so a Dresden Star Ornament feels like an authentic, old ornament, with personality and attention to detail. In addition, if you buy a Dresden Star Ornament you are guaranteed to have a one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted piece. Each ornament is hand-signed either by Gail or Glenn Giaimo; we are the only artists making the ornaments, thus giving us the control to ensure the very best quality and craftmanship. In the original ornament, pictured above left, note that the glass "boat", while discolored, is still intact. The crinkle-wire around the ornament is damaged, as is often the case. The original chromolithograph ("scrap") and original rope tinsel has stayed with the ornament all these years. An antique Victorian ornament like this one, even in this condition, could be quite expensive. Dresden Star Ornaments, pictured above right, are constructed from vintage and antique materials. All of the colorful die-cut scraps are Victorian chromolithographs. The glass ornaments used to create the Christmas ship and hot air balloon are from the '30s or earlier. Scraps, Dresden stars and old rope tinsel were carefully held in place with a durable glue. The crinkle-wire wrapped around the balloon and ship is newer, but was antiqued to match the patina of the ornaments. (We use recently-manufactured crinkle-wire to wrap our ornaments, as original tinsel wire is often too brittle and tangled to use again.) The Dresden Star Ornaments are more lively, fanciful and elaborate. Antique Die-Cut "Scraps" are Used to Make Dresden Star Ornaments At right is a sampling of Santa and angel categories from our scrap collection. Antique angels and Santas are becoming harder to find and are especially expensive to obtain. To make an ornament, we generally start by selecting a piece of scrap from our large collection of beautiful antique diecut chromolithographs. In many cases, the scrap is the inspiration for what goes into each ornament. The majority of our scraps pre-date 1900. We have scraps of every imaginable subject, from flowers and animals to circus characters and babies. The scraps are stunning, nostalgic and whimsical; they are an essential part of what goes into a Dresden Star Ornament. In Victorian times, scraps were extremely popular, which is why you can still find them today. Many families made their own tree decorations by combining scraps with other papers, fabric trims, and metallic tinsel garland. Color chromolithographs were made by a process that printed 20 to 26 colors per design, every tint requiring a separate pass through the press. Heavier paper stock was used and very specialized techniques were employed to produce high-quality embossing. Chromolithographs produced after the 20's showed an increasing decline in quality due to newer processes and cheaper paper used. Reproduction scraps are produced today in only four colors and on light-weight paper. The antique chromolithographs have beautiful depth, luster and high-quality that modern printing techniques cannot even begin to achieve today.
			Antique and Vintage Glass Ornaments To make Dresden Star Ornaments we use only older glass decorations, selecting them for their beauty and patina. At left are antique and vintage ornaments from our collection. We need a wide variety of shapes, sizes and birds to choose from when we are crafting an ornament. We select a glass piece that is the right size, shape and color to compliment the old chromolithographs that we attach to it. Oblong shapes work well for dirigibles, round ones for hot air balloons, etc. A glass bird may be in a tinsel cage, or be perched on a "nest" made from an indent ornament turned on its side. After attaching scraps, rope tinsel, and embossed gold papers (Dresden trim), the ornaments generally are wire-wrapped with crinkle wire we purchase from Germany (Krausboullion), just as you would see on an old Victorian Ornament. Smaller Victorian and antique glass garland beads are wonderful for incorporating with scrap and tinsel ornaments, and look much like the homemade tree decorations made by families over a century ago.
			Vintage Tree Decorations and Old Tinsel Add Variety to Dresden Star Ornaments The pictures at right are a sampling of the wide variety of vintage tree decorations used to create our ornaments. Old tinsel garland is especially important for decorating ornaments in different ways. We can select from a wide variety of antique and vintage tinsels in our collection. We also purchase old-style silver-plated Lametta tinsel from Germany and allow it to age naturally, so it has tarnish just like our old-stock tinsel. Having a wonderful collection of old Christmas decorations to choose from allows us to make our ornaments as imaginative and unique as possible.
		Dresden Trims, Papers and Fabrics Gold embossed die-cut papers, loosely termed "Dresden trims", are shown below and are used to decorate Dresden Star Ornaments. Much of our collection of trims are old-stock made in Germany. Many of the elaborate borders, birds, stars, anchors, script phrases, and pink medallions shown below are old-stock. Since old-stock Dresden embossed papers are becoming scarce, we also use some newer trims from Germany. (For example, the angel wings below left, are new-stock). The quality of the gold embossed papers we buy from Germany is generally very good, as some of the same equipment and techniques are used today as were used in the past. Vintage papers, fabrics, and lace trims, and old-stock ribbons and cording are used to embellish candy containers, cornucopias, and our beautiful scraps. As was often done with homemade Victorian ornaments, scraps of women and children are decorated with delicate lace trims, fabrics, and crepe paper. We have a fabulous selection of vintage materials to choose from to give each ornament its own unique personality.
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