The straw mobile

Besides the presents, many kind of Christmas decorations are made in Korvatunturi before Christmas. Straw mobile is one of them. The first preparations are made as early as in the harvest time when strong rye straws are collected and dried. When it is time to begin the preparations for Christmas the straws are processed in order to make them workable: They  are peeled and cleaned by taking the outermost layer away. Then they must be put into the warm water for a while so that they become soft and can be cut into proper lengths without splitting  the straw pipe. Cutting is an exact job! That is why the bookkeeper elf from the Santa Claus’ Office with his measuring tape has called to help. For a graceful straw mobile thin straws are selected. Solid straw crown needs thicker straws. When the straws are cut into suitable bits they must be let dry again. “What is the meaning in that; first to dry, then to wet, then to dry again?” asks a mouse that has come to see the work. “By me and my family that sheaf of straws could have been consumed in shorter time, and you would have spared all those efforts.”

Now the straws are drying. An elder elf tells about the origin of the straw mobiles. “Long time ago, in every farm, straws were brought into the house at Christmas time and spread out on the living room floor. Children were playing in the straws, of course. There was a lot of bustle and straws were flying. One straw flew to the ceiling and got stuck. There it hung under the ridge-pole and glittered. So was the first straw mobile invented.”

The bits of straw are dry. Using thin thread that is stuck through the straw tubes the straws are now compiled into different triangles, pyramids and bigger constructions. The thread is soft cotton thread and the ‘needle’ is a thin, quite long bit of straw. The mouse gave it to the elves, hesitating a little, but saying then: “I can eat it afterwards”. A finished straw mobile is a beautiful, complicated, symmetrical work of art. Hanging from the ceiling it moves harmoniously and glimmers.