New Ornaments

I took down my Christmas tree and put it away last week but not before I took a few pictures of the newest ornaments from this year's trip. We saw all kinds of items made from birch bark in Finland such as baskets, lamp shades, containers, etc. Many items were simply woven or shaped pieces, but we also saw several embossed birch bark boxes and hair ornaments. The 8 pointed star is very Scandinavian and I found this star ornament at the harbor market in Helsinki. The smaller one was actually purchased in St. Petersburg--which is only a train ride away--where we saw many of the same Finnish market items for sale sold much cheaper!

These are tiny leather peasant shoes that were originally sold as a brooch, but I instead hung a loop of thread through the back for an ornament. They are the traditional shoe for the national folk dress of Estonian islanders and would normally be worn over ornate hand knit stockings. We saw a woman in traditional dress demonstrating spinning with a wheel at the open air museum outside Tallinn. She was also wearing a pair of these shoes and Mother remarked how comfortable they must be for treadling. When I spin on my wheel, I always spin barefoot or with just socks so that I can "feel" the treadle. We didn't find too many English guidebooks or souvenir books in Estonia (which is just as well because Mom and I always load up on books and then have to CARRY them) but the museum gift shop had 2 nice little English booklets about Estonian traditions and dress...as well as a few actual pairs of these shoes! I bought this ornament for my tree and the shoes were 59 Euros, but Mother convinced me to buy them because I am fascinated with any and all types of traditional dress and I'd kick myself later if I didn't get them. The wearable shoes tie up with leather laces almost like ballet toe shoes.


These little dollies were bought in St. Petersburg at our beloved Nevsky Souvenirs. We'd each gotten a few babushkas, but these were more like the traditional peasant costume. The orange one is holding a tea pot and has a string with circular pretzels strung over her arm. We were told they were a traditional Russian bread and had actually eaten them elsewhere before we saw these ornaments in the store. The circular pretzels we'd eaten were just like store bought pretzels we have here, but I wonder if they are ever made as soft, bread-y pretzels. I might have to search for a recipe....