It is almost the time of the year for me to scramble under the spare bed and pull out the box of Christmas decorations. I’ve had these decorations for years and every year I try to find another bauble to add to them. Last year it was a mouse with bracelets and a scarf of sparkling cotton wool. Cute but very silly.
My fun Christmas bauble from last year
I was wondering what to add this year when I read about the Christmas decorations that volunteers had made for the caretaker’s rooms in the old Treasury Building in Spring Street in Melbourne’s CBD.
The idea of handmade decorations to add to my collection appealed and I trotted off to take a look.
Striking wall decorations made from paper
Folded crepe paper
The decorations are in the five roomed basement flat that the caretaker, John Maynard and his wife shared with eight children. Volunteers decorate the old residence every year. This year they have made decorations the family may have had in the 1920s.
The decorations are simple and it is not hard to imagine John’s children sitting around making them as they chatted and laughed with the excitement of the approach of Christmas. Their underground home is a very dark place.
The bright colours of the Christmas decorations the volunteers have put up this year brighten the home as I’m sure they did every year when John Maynard and his family lived here.
There are no instructions on how to make these decorations but YouTube is full handmade decorations. Here’s the link to one I’m going to try.
Rose made from tissue paper
This is this one I would like to try but I haven’t seen any instructions on how to do it.
These are lovely but there are no instructions.
The Old Treasury Building is described as a place of ‘Victorian Archival Treasures’ for the city ‘Built on Gold’. Melbourne was transformed by the discovery of gold in the 1850s.
To show all that glitters is gold there is a huge lump of gold on display – a really remarkable sight.
Christmas at the Old Treasury is on until January 5th 2018. If you miss the exhibition you can still wander down to the caretakers flat and see how he and his family lived.
Treasury Gardens are next door.
Fortunately for the families living there, there were grounds around them some of which are now the Treasury Gardens – a popular place at lunch time.
Where:-
The Old Treasury Museum
20 Spring Street
Melbourne 3000 – top of Collins Street
Open:-
10am – 4pm
Sunday to Friday
(CLOSED ON SATURDAY)
