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A chorus of joyful colors and cozy textures make this handcrafted, tabletop Christmas tree sing. Artisans in Rajasthan, India, hand-felt and dye sheep’s wool using traditional techniques rather than mechanized methods. Evidence of the maker’s skill shows in each hand-stitched “branch.”
Perfect for apartment dwellers, downsizers, and anyone else who doesn’t have room for a full-sized tree—as well as anyone who thinks that more trees make for a merrier Christmas! It’s a cheerful, untraditional take on holiday decor that Santa can’t miss.
Rajasthan is India's largest state and home to almost 70 million people. It’s a vast and diverse region, colored by the Thar Desert and steeped in rich artistic traditions.
Before inexpensive, machine-made products were easily available, craft was a necessity. Handmade felt floor coverings were the norm in Rajasthan for hundreds of years. Unlike machine-processed felt or boiled wool, hand-felted wool is thick and heavy, with a slightly fuzzy surface and the occasional imperfections that are evidence of the maker’s hand.
As cheaper, commercially made rugs from China became readily available, the craft of felt-making began to die out in Rajasthan. Today, the small number of artisans who preserve this craft often partner with designers in the West to develop home decor and holiday decorations.
By incorporating ecologically sustainable production methods—letting sheep graze freely, using natural wool and azo-free dyes, using reclaimed rainwater and solar power, composting the wool-making byproducts into fertilizer for local farmers—these artisans support the health and wellbeing of their entire community while keeping craft tradition alive.
