How to Decorate for the Holidays in an Original Retro Style

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When decorating for the holidays in an original retro style you need to first think about what colors are going to give you that feel as if your living room is from the forties, fifties or sixties. Stick to a palette of bright red, sky blue, avocado, muted gold and mocha. If you choose Christmas balls in these colors you have won half the battle in making your tree look authentic.

Traditional Christmas décor was also known for it’s themes. A Hawaiian or Tropical theme complete with shell garlands and hanging star fish was a big design hit in the seventies. In the fifties and sixties it was not uncommon to see cute elves decorating the tree, stockings and Christmas cards.

Plastic wreathes are very retro and if you hang one above your mantel you are immediately telling visitors that you are into the vintage Christmas look. Another lovely retro motif are nativity scenes made completely out of plastic or train sets running around the base of the tree made out of plastic as well.

The artificial bottlebrush tree is also very much from the sixties and seventies. These were metal spikes with evenly spaced arms with spines on them. The entire point of them is to not look too natural. The trendiest original retro colors are artificial white or pink. To decorate them drape them in thick hanks of metallic gold tinsel and opaque multicolor lights. It is also very sixties and seventies to have an angel at the top of your tree.

Gifts are wrapped in polka-dot and atomic pattern papers and plaid ribbons and bows. Tissue paper wrapped gifts with pink or powder blue ribbons that have been hand “curled” with scissors are also very sixties. Placing gifts in a basket with no wrapping and just a ribbon s also a very seventies thing to do.

When it comes to food the classic things to have on hand are canned cranberry jelly, a rock hard Christmas cake that reeks of booze, ham with pineapple slices and gingerbread cookies. Be sure to also have a bowl of walnuts and an old fashioned Nutcracker that looks like a soldier from the Nutcracker Suite on hand. It is also classic to serve eggnog and have a centerpiece made of poinsettia and holly in the center of your Christmas table.

How to Decorate Old Serving Trays With Gesso for Christmas

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For centuries gesso has been used as a base for gilding surfaces. You see gesso on everything from antique picture frames to ancient frescoes in Roman Baths. Gesso is made from a mix of glue, plaster, gypsum or chalk. The most authentic type of gesso is made from chalk. Originally the purpose of gesso was to prevent surfaces from absorbing paint.

Gesso is simply a white coating that can be used to paint anything. If you paint an antique tray with gesso it can help “winterize” it for the holiday season. It also looks very much like a tray in fifteenth century Italy when done. For a touch of extra holiday glamour you can also spray the tray with glitter.

The trick to having this work well is to pick your trays carefully. Ones that have handles work nicely and so do ones with details like filigree and ridging look amazing. The plainer the tray is the less likely it is too look nice because Gesso has the effect of making anything that it coats look “iced.”

When picking out a tray you also might want to consider its intended use. If it is for toiletries select something narrow. If it is for serving get something larger that is round or square.

It does not matter whether they are made out of metal, wood or painted, you will need to sand them well before you apply the gesso. You can use the gesso to create patterns such as swirls, swipes and zig zags on the tray. The more coats you apply the better the tray is going to look. It is always better to apply more gesso than you need than less as lots is what is needed to get that frothy snowy effect. If you think it looks too much like an iced cake you can always take some sandpaper and remove some of the gesso. The finer the sandpaper the better –so you do not have to redo the job!

Each time you apply a layer of gesso you should also wait at least an hour for it to dry. Applying wet gesso on a wet previous layer can create unattractive results.

Once you are happy with the design you can then apply glitter by hand or use a spray. Yet another beautiful effect is to treat the gessoed tray with a liquid ice product. This gives the tray a very shiny, multi-rainbowed effect.