DIY Christingles for Your 18" Dolls and Friends

       A Christingle is a symbolic object used in the Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany services of many Christian denominations. Christingles have been a feature in Moravian churches across the UK since before the World Wars. When it was not possible to get oranges, swedes were used instead. As members of Moravian churches moved away from their home congregations, they took the custom of Christingles with them and introduced it to other denominations. In the 1960s John Pensom adopted it as a fundraising tool for The Children's Society. Many Moravians dislike Christingles being used for fundraising, as they consider that part of the meaning behind the Christingle tradition is that God's love is given freely without a person having to 'earn' it. 

A Christingle usually consists of:

• An orange, representing the world
• A candle pushed into the centre of the orange, then lit, representing Jesus Christ as Light of the World
• A red ribbon wrapped around the orange or a paper frill around the candle, representing the blood of Christ
• Dried fruits and/or sweets skewered on cocktail sticks pushed into the orange, representing the fruits of the earth and the four seasons.
• In 2006, Chelmsford Cathedral in the UK announced that it would be replacing the candles with glowsticks.

18" doll sized Christingles for doll play. You can craft these yourself; they are fun and easy to make!

        Make these traditional Christingles for your doll play if you have this Christmas tradition in your own church or would like to learn how the Moravians celebrate Christmas themselves.

Supply List:

• Sculpey oven bake clay
• white typing paper to wrap the candle
• red ribbon (very narrow) or red paper
• toothpicks or cocktail sticks
• wooden skewer for the central candle
• beads in holiday fruit colors (wide enough openings to be put onto toothpicks)
• acrylic paints in orange, red and yellow

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Roll out a ball of clay approximating the size of a orange for your 18" doll.
2. Poke the largest hole for the fake candlestick through the top of the orange with a skewer.
3. Then using a toothpick, poke four more holes around the upper sides of the orange, evenly spaced about the top hole.
4. Bake the Sculpey at 275 degrees Fahrenheit (U.S.) or 135.0000 Celsius (U.K.)  in oven or as directed on the package for the amount of time directed as necessary. Let the clay cool.
5. Cut doll sized candle sticks from the skewer. Fill the largest hole with white glue and push the faux candle stick inside. Let dry and repeat for each clay orange.
6. Paint the clay parts of the Christingles using acrylic orange paint. let dry.
7. Cut white typing paper to size and smear it with glue. Carefully twist this about the candle sticking above the orange to thicken the candle stick if you prefer.
   
8. Clip and glue toothpicks into the smaller four holes.
9. Push tiny beads onto each toothpick to represent dried fruits, using white glue to secure them.
10. Glue a red ribbon either around the orange or cut a bit of fringed felt to twist about the candle stick to represent the Blood of Christ. (see photos)

Left, the oranges are made from rolled oven bake clay. Right, both the candles and skewers are made
 from toothpicks and thicker skewers, often used for barbecues. Paint the clay oranges after gluing
 wooden toothpicks into the center of each clay Christingle.

Left, I wrapped white typing paper around the center candle to thicken it a bit. Right, now the
Christingles have red paper trims about their candles and the toothpick skewers are ready for
beaded faux "fruits."

Christingle, from a word of German origin,

 Christkindl, meaning "Little Christ Child",

 is used to celebrate Jesus Christ as 

the "Light of the World" by Thomas Nast.

Historical Facts About Christingles:

1. The history of the Christingle can be traced back to Moravian Bishop Johannes de Watteville, who started the tradition in Germany in 1747. At that time it was just a red ruff wrapped around a candle.

2. In the intervening years, the Moravian Church spread the tradition of Christingle through their early role in the Protestant missionary movement.

3. It was popularized in the United Kingdom by John Pensom in 1968. He was raising funds for the charity The Children's Society.
4. In the 2000s over 5,000 Christingle services were being held in the UK every year. In 2018, over 6,000 services were held for The Children's Society. 
5. Each year Christingle raises over £1.2 million to help vulnerable young people.
6. In 2018, The Children's Society launched its #Christingle50 campaign, which included festive services in schools and churches for the 50th year.

Learn About How Christingles Are Used In Church Services:

• A Christingle Service Online in The United Kingdom
• How to Make a Christingle
• Chistingle: An Advent Tradition
• Murdock looks at old and new ways of celebrating the coming of light
• BBC One - Songs of Praise, Christingle in 2018