Glass Bead Christmas Stars and Timeless White (B1)
Nostalgic mood
Many people feel nostalgic if they see Christmas decorations made of glass beads. They bring back our childhood memories, when we decorated Christmas trees with old ornaments, not only stars but also bells, carts or snowmen.
History of glass bead manufacturing in Czechia
Czech tradition of making glass bead ornaments dates back to the 15th century. There were usually small family manufactures and each one made their decorations in a bit different way. For making the glass ornaments they usually used leftovers from the local glassworks production. These glassworks were concentrated in the Jizera Mountains and later spread to the Ore Mountains. Nowadays the last family dealing with manufacturing blown glass pearls is based in Poniklá.
Contemporary enthusiasts
The most famous Czech glass beads are probably made in Jablonec upon Nisa (Jablonec nad Nisou) There is a wide range of possiblilities how to use them. The most frequent use is making jewellery - or decorations. There are many skilful artists who make beautiful Christmas stars and other decorations (for example here). And what is the most popular colour? A little suvey of mine shows that the most popular colour for Christmas decorations is - WHITE.
Source and other stars - LucyMcBride Stars (Fler)
Vocabulary to learn
bead [biːd] - korálek
nostalgic [nɒˈstældžɪk] - nostalgický
mood [muːd] - nálada
decoration [dekəˈreɪšən] - dekorace
ornament [o.nəment] - ozdoba
manufacturing [mænjʊˈfækčərɪŋ] - výroba
leftovers [leftˌəʊvəz] - zbytky
spread [spred] - rozšířit se
pearl [pɜːl] - perla
contemporary [kənˈtemprərɪ] - současný
based (in) [beɪst] - působící (v)
range [reɪndž] - škála
skilful [skɪlfəl] - šikovný
upon [əˈpɒn] - nad
survey [sɜːvei] - průzkum
Vocabulary to help
timeless [taɪmləs] - nadčasový
cart [kɑːt] - vozík
enthusiast [ɪnˈθjuːzɪˌæst] - nadšenec
blown [bləʊn] - foukaný
glassworks [ˈglɑːsˌwɜːks] - sklárna