CRAFTS : It’s a Small World of Ornaments

The Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace will once again be festooned for the holidays with an international array of Christmas trees.

Thirty library docents researched several countries’ Yuletide traditions and adorned trees with ornaments found in Germany, Japan, China, Lithuania, Mexico, Italy, Ukraine, Great Britain and Russia. The trees will be on display through Jan. 4.

“The same thing is done at the (Herbert) Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in Iowa,” said Nixon Library spokeswoman Evelyn Young. “That’s where we got the idea.” Labels will explain the national customs or beliefs that inspired each country’s ornaments and say when Nixon visited that country, Young said.

Last year’s visitor favorite was a Lithuanian tree, brought back again this season, said docent Callie Jones. She helped make many of its ornaments, which include a two-foot-tall angel atop the tree, hanging chains, stars, angels and elves. Most of the ornaments are made largely of straw--which represents sweet, fresh hay traditionally fed to farm animals at Christmas--adorned with cheery red felt.

Lithuanians fed the animals hay, along with tidbits from their special Christmas Eve dinner, to “express thankfulness to the animals for the work they do,” Jones said. Animals also were thought to have guarded and warmed the Christ child in the stable at Bethlehem.

“The tree had a very holy, religious feel to it because of the straw” and the association to the manger, Jones said. “It symbolized the meaning of Christmas more than any other tree with its glitter and glitz.”

* Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace is at 18001 Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission is $4.95; $1 for children 8 to 11; $2.95 for those 62 and over. Children 7 and under are admitted free. Information: (714) 993-5075

Here’s how to make a Lithuanian “loop with angel” ornament, which consists of three angels attached to a circular loop adorned with bearded wheat. Raffia, a natural fiber often used by crafters, is used in place of hard-to-find straw for the angels.

You’ll need:

2 1/2 feet standard-width paper rope (about one-fourth inch in diameter), also called paper twist.

Three unpainted wooden beads, each one inch in diameter.

A 1 1/2-ounce package of raffia. (Raffia, which comes in thin strips, might be chemically treated. Do not use near food or food-preparation surfaces.)

Four bearded wheat stalks.

Glue gun and glue sticks.

Wire: three feet of 20-gauge and two feet of 30-gauge.

Wire cutters.

(All these supplies should be available at craft stores.)

Pre-soak the raffia to remove wrinkles by placing it in bowl of room-temperature water for a minute or so. Lay out to dry and work with dry raffia, except when making wings, when moist raffia is better.

Form a loop or circle about seven inches in diameter with paper rope. Lap one end over the other and glue.

Cover the loop completely with raffia, wrapping it around and around tightly. Use as many raffia strands as necessary, gluing the end of each one to the loop.

Next do the following three steps twice, to make two angels:

1) Bundle together about 20 six-inch-long raffia strands and tie in the middle with 30-gauge wire. Leave a few inches of excess wire.

2) Form the angel’s skirt by folding this raffia bundle in half and bending each end downward into a V. Thread the excess wire through a wooden bead and glue the bead onto the top of the skirt (or raffia V).

3) Cut any remaining wire.

For the third angel, repeat Step 1 and half of Step 2, but don’t glue on the third head bead. Instead, insert an 18-inch long piece of 20-gauge wire into the middle of the third skirt, at the V, until equal lengths of the wire stick out on each side of the skirt. Then bend wire so ends meet directly above the skirt. Now thread the 20-gauge wire through the head bead, and glue the bead onto the skirt.

Bend each half of the 20-gauge wire down, on either side of the center angel’s head to form a sort of root-top angle. Bend straight downward the last half-inch of each wire to insert and glue into the head beads of the two other angels.

Trim all three angels’ skirts for uniformity. Each should be about three inches long.

Glue a six-inch-long piece of 20-gauge wire into the center angel’s head bead. Use this to attach the angel triad onto the loop by twining wire around loop. Trim excess. The center angel’s head should be about 1 1/2 inches from the top of the loop’s arch.

Make wings for each angel by bundling together six or seven four-inch strands of raffia. Be sure raffia is moist. Tie the raffia strands in the center with 30-gauge wire, then fan out strands into a wing shape. Let dry in that shape, then trim wings for a different shape, or leave as is. Trim any excess wire and glue wings to angels at the base of the head bead.

Trim the bottoms of the bearded wheat stalks until each stalk is about nine inches long. Glue two stalks onto either side of the loop.

Wrap raffia around the top of the loop to cover wire or any part of the wheat stalk you don’t want to show.

Make a hook out of 20-gauge wire to hang the ornament and attach to loop.

Optional: Cut small bow-tie shapes out of red felt, and glue to front of angels, just below the head bead.