Christmas, Made by Hand: The World of Vintage by Crystal
BON TON goods · Christmas, made by hand
The world of
Vintage by Crystal.
A Christmas cast of characters, and a little theatre for the collector.
Step inside the story
A collection with characters of its own.
The best way to understand Vintage by Crystal is to see a few pieces together. A Santa takes his place beside a snowman; a fairy opens her wings; a little animal seems to be on the verge of joining the conversation. Each has a personality, but together they create a world.
Crystal and Ben Sloane make the pieces by hand in their upstate New York studio, drawing on antique German spun-cotton ornaments. Shaping, assembling, painting and finishing bring together cotton and other fibres, wire, paper, vintage finds and gathered materials. Small differences in expression and finish are part of their character.
Photographs from our Christmas display bring you closer to the cotton, paper, tinsel and tiny details that give these characters their charm. Alongside them, archive arrangements offer more ideas for collecting and displaying. The product galleries feature pieces available when this edit was prepared.
01 · Santa, in several guises
The Christmas cast arrives.
Santa has more than one costume in this world. He can be dressed for a forest walk, balanced above a glass ball, accompanied by a fawn or ready to begin Christmas night. A change of colour or a small prop gives each figure its own mood.
Choose one as the centre of a little display, or let a few become a conversation across the mantel. Repeat red, pink, teal or green elsewhere in the room, then leave space around the figures so their expressions and silhouettes can be enjoyed.
Santa's Ready for Christmas Figure
Ready for the big night, with all the nostalgic presence of a favourite Christmas character.
2 500 SEK
Teal Santa On Glass Ball
A teal Santa poised above a glass ball, bringing a cool jewel tone to the tree.
1 800 SEK
Tea Stain Santa with Nutcracker Ornament – Large
A larger Santa with a nutcracker detail, for the collector who enjoys a little festive theatre.
4 800 SEK
Pink Santa With Fawn & Goose Feather Sprig
Pink, a small fawn and a goose-feather sprig: a softer woodland Christmas.
1 200 SEK
Green Forest Santa Ornament
A forest-green Santa for branches, mushrooms and a collected winter scene.
1 200 SEK
02 · Christmas morning
Presents, peppermint & winter play.
Christmas morning supplies its own theatre: a box of treasures, a wrapped present, peppermint colours and a snowman ready for winter. These pieces make a room feel celebratory without needing a perfectly matched set.
Gather a few on a shelf, intersperse them with old glass ornaments, or choose one small character for a place where it will be discovered at close quarters. Their appeal lies in the details that make you look twice.
Peppermint Gingerbread Girl Ornament
Peppermint stripes and gingerbread colour in a storybook ornament.
1 600 SEK
Box of Christmas Goodies Figure
An overflowing box of Christmas treasures, made into a miniature display.
1 600 SEK
03 · Wings & fairy tales
A little enchantment for the branches.
A Christmas tree can hold a whole imaginary kingdom. Wings, pale winter colours and jewel-like accents connect angels, fairies and princesses without making them uniform.
Hang the more elaborate figures where there is a little open space around them. A delicate pair of wings or a tiny passenger becomes much easier to appreciate against a quieter patch of green.
Princess Fairy Butterfly Ornament
Princess, fairy and butterfly meet in one wonderfully elaborate ornament.
2 000 SEK
Blue Princess Treasure Ornament
A blue princess with the presence of a miniature treasure.
2 000 SEK
Magical Mystical Fairy Ornament
A fanciful fairy whose name leaves room for a little mystery.
1 600 SEK
Pink Butterfly Fairy Ornament
Pink wings bring a bright, delicate note to winter branches.
2 000 SEK
White Winter Angel Figure
A winter-white angel for a quieter corner of the Christmas display.
1 400 SEK
04 · The woodland guests
A Frenchie, a gnome & a reindeer.
Some pieces earn their place because they make you smile immediately. A Christmas Frenchie, a festive cat, a mushroom gnome and a person who happens to be a radish can all belong in the same collection.
There is no need to explain every choice. Choose the animal that reminds you of a friend, the expression you cannot resist, or the woodland character that seems to have arrived from a story you have not read yet.
Mushroom Gnome Ornament
A gnome whose mushroom world belongs comfortably among winter branches.
1 800 SEK
Radish Person Ornament
The wonderfully unexpected guest: a person who happens to be a radish.
1 200 SEK
Barn Owl Ornament/Figure
A barn owl, equally at home among branches or in a collector’s cabinet.
1 100 SEK
05 · The collector’s imagination
A moon man, a rider & a little surprise.
The pleasure of collecting is often the unexpected connection between objects. A moon-faced figure and a sentimental teddy box may have very different stories, but both invite you to keep looking.
Give a more theatrical piece a small stage of its own: a low plinth, a shelf or a favourite box. Grouping by scale rather than strict theme lets the shapes speak to one another.
Curious Moon Man Figure
A quizzical moon-faced figure with the charm of a theatrical prop.
1 400 SEK
Leaping Leopard Rider Ornament
A rider on a leaping spotted cat: a small piece of fantastical theatre.
2 000 SEK
Black Swan Rider Elf Ornament
An elf and a black swan, paired in an unexpected storybook ride.
1 600 SEK
06 · The scene makers
A tree, a sleigh & a miniature Christmas.
A mushroom goose-feather tree or a swan sleigh can give a whole group of smaller figures somewhere to belong. These are the pieces that establish a landscape, a journey or the beginning of a story.
Build the arrangement slowly. Start with the largest shape, introduce two or three companions and leave some breathing room. When the season ends, wrap each piece individually and store it dry, away from heat and strong light, ready for its next appearance.
Vintage Style Mushroom Goosefeather Tree
A vintage-style mushroom goose-feather tree to anchor an imaginative Christmas scene.
40 000 SEK
Begin with the one you cannot leave behind.
A collection can begin with a single figure. Choose the character that makes you smile, then let the story grow one Christmas at a time.
Discover Vintage by Crystal at BON TON goods, Baltzarsgatan 41, Malmö, or explore the collection online.