Christmas balls, they come in many colors, sizes and nowadays also in the most special shapes. You can even theme your Christmas tree! How about snack attack with frikandels, cheese soufflés and hamburgers or sweet tooth with lollipops, ice creams and sweets? Japan is not forgotten either with sushi, lucky cats and kokeshi! It seems to get crazier every year, but where does the Christmas ball actually come from?
How did Christmas balls come about?
The balls as we know them today are descended from glass balls in the shape of apples that were first made in Germany. There, in the 16th century, around December 24, they hung real apples on the tree, that was the apple tree in Adam and Eve's paradise. Over the centuries, these apples were supplemented with cookies and candles and eventually, due to a lack of beautiful apples, replaced by glass varieties. Opinions are divided about the inventor of the glass Christmas bauble, was Mr. Linder from the Vosges the first or was it Hans Greiner from the Lauscha company? Whoever it is, they will both be amazed at what we have hanging in the trees these days!
Fold a Christmas bauble from... paper
Do you like a full tree with lots of color or are you more moderate with the use of color and do you prefer a natural style? Whatever your preference, this string of lights with paper Christmas balls fits in any tree! You can use brightly colored origami paper for this, but you can actually make it with all types of paper. It just shouldn't be too thick!
What do you need for origami Christmas baubles?
- enough leaves (origami) paper of 15x15cm
- a light cord (battery-powered or not)
- this handy video
Once you have made a large number of balls, you can easily slide them over the lights on the string. Origami paper is not really transparent, so I would put a ball on it alternately. You can hang the ball garland in the tree, somewhere else in the house or place it as a decoration on the Christmas table between beautiful pine branches.
💬 Tell me, are you going to try this too?
The author: Ingrid Beyer
Ingrid from Happlify crew member Roppongi is a far too modest Japan expert who can tell you all the ins and outs. Roppongi is the webshop for lovers of Japan, design, good food, tea and DIY. Visit Roppongi and the blog regularly for the quickest trip to Japan. Ingrid's blog posts >
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