DIY Equestrian Christmas Decoration

Tail hair is beautiful material. 

This year Nanna made some Christmas decorations with horse hair.

It´s easy to make your own, try!

All you need is some tailhair, glass beads, glue and

ribbon of your choice.

The diameter of the circle is 5 cm. For this size you would need

hair strands ca. 20 cm long. There are 35 hair strands.

Tip: 

Pull hair off rather than cut. You can also collect hair strands when grooming

the tail. You will be surprised how small bundle 35 hair strands is!

Thread the beads to hair strands and use a little drop of glue

to keep them in place.

                             "They sparkle beautifully in the

                                                         candle light!"

Tie hair strands together with the chosen ribbon.

Use the colors of your Christmas on the beads and ribbons.

Have a lovely Christmas time!

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Le Corbusier LC4 Chaise Lounge

Do you know when this chair was designed?

It was designed in 1929, who would believe... 

The LC4, "Chaise longue" (LC4, "Long chair", English: "chaise lounge") debuted at the Salon d'Automne in Paris in 1929. 

Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris) was born in Switzerland 1887, died in 1965, became a French citizen in 1930. Le Corbusier was multitalented and worked for five decades all over the world. He was an architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of modern architecture.

Le Corbusier Redrawn | Villa Savoye

Le Corbusier, together with Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand, designed three pieces of tubular-steel furniture that were first shown in the gallery of the Villa La Roche, Paris, and in the library and study of the Villa Church, Ville d’Avary, Paris.


The LC1 Basculant Chair and LC2, LC3 Grand Confort Chairs were designed at the same time. They are also classics we all know. 

Le Corbuiser was a forward-thinking designer who refreshed furniture design. He used industrial materials, exposed structural elements and created new kinds of constructions. In LC4 the construction is two-parted that incorporates a self-balancing adjustability. The LC4 Chaise Lounge started a new era of furniture design.

Is it work of art or is it just good design? Both?
LC4 is beautiful to look at and it is comfortable to lay on: ergonomic design mirrors the body's natural curves, and it can be adjusted from a near-upright position to a full reclining position.

"I imagined an ordinary, tired soldier who stretches out on his back, places his feet against a tree and his backpack beneath his head – this is how the famous Chaise Longue came into being.”
-quote by Charlotte Perriand-

The LC4 was manufactured by Thonet Frères, Paris, France and Le Corbusier licensed it for reproduction by Cassina in 1965. This chair is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

You might wonder why we want to show this chair to you and what does it have to do with horses or ponies... Or horsehair fine jewelry...

The covering is made of pony skin, cow skin, leather or canvas. The other thing is that good design, quality work, elegance and class never go out of fashion...

See what Louis Vuitton has done with the LC4...

Horsehair Fabrics - Pure Luxury

Horsehair is a protein fiber, like human hair or silk. It does not absorb water but can be easily dyed. Horsehair has been used for many purposes since a human being has lived with horses and using it in making fabric is probably one of most impressive, but challenging purposes.

Horsehair quality and length varies a lot, it can be very stiff or very fine and soft. The quality
depends on the breed, diet, health, climate...

For making fabric out of horsehair the hair has to be chosen carefully.

The Spaniards might have been the first ones to use horsehair as textile the 8th. The first documented use is from the 9th century in Switzerland. The Swiss used it for the plans of St. Gall Abbey. The plans, a blueprint for a monastic compound in medieval times, are a national preserved treasure to the Swiss that were said to have been weaved with horsehair.

In the 19th century horsehair was quite common as upholstery stuffing and covering fabric. Horsehair fabrics are very durable and there is that same luxurious shimmer that linen and silk have. When you touch the fabric it is almost impossible to imagine that the material is the same that you brush at the stables...

Eliel Saarinen (1873 – 1950) was a famous Finnish architect who also designed furniture.
His style was art deco, the Finnish art deco was called "national romantic" and it had influence from jugend, too.

These chairs and dining tables are originally designed for his home in Cranbrook, UK (1929-1930). They are made of birch but also mahogany, satinwood, American and European maple veneers are used in decoration.

Tetrimäki Ltd continues the long tradition of Finnish fine carpentry by training new carpenters and master carpenters together with educational institutions.Their goal is to bring the furniture of Eliel Saarinen to Finnish homes and raise its profile internationally.

The company is dedicated to maintaining top quality and preserving the unique heritage of Eliel Saarinen and horsehair fabrics are still used. Use links below the photo to see details on producers site.

photo Tetrimäki Ltd

photo Tetrimäki Ltd

Upholstery stuffing is horsehair, the covering fabric is designed by Eliel Saarinen and manufactured by the respected John Boyd Textiles Ltd. John Boyd died in 1890 but the company still produces fabrics made of horse hair.

The tradition of horsehair weaving is continued in Castle Cary and they use the original looms and techniques of over 125 years ago. John Boyd Textiles Ltd is one of the last surviving horsehair weavers in the world.

Bill Batten for Willer, photo from johnboydtextiles.co.uk/projects

As you can see the horsehair fabrics are very sophisticated and elegant.

When Nanna Salmi brushed her mare´s tail she thought that it must be possible
to make a miniature textile, a woven ribbon, of horsehair too. She tried and the result of that experiment can be seen in her collection of fine jewelry.

Most of horsehair jewelries are plaited, braided or somehow twisted, these ribbons are really "miniature textiles".

Two rings Amate in gold, ribbons 'arrow head' and 'check' to USA 

Enquiries and orders by email

minna.maattanen@nannasalmi.com

Horse helping with the dishes?

When you use your best crystal glasses you don´t put them in a dishwasher, do you?

Of course not! You take the best dish brush, the one made with horsehair... It is soft and tender, but removes lipstick, fingerprints and other stains easily.

A hint: If you drink a lot of tea, you know how cups start to look like in a while -
a horsersehair dish brush cleans your china effectively, but tenderly.

Photos by Riedel and Manufactüm 

Mouth blown quality glassware by Riedel for 250 yrs 

Dish brushes from Manufactum

When rinsing, use as hot water as possible and dry the glasses out with linen towel that does

not leave fibres on them.

Linen is fantastic - it just gets better and better when washing and using it!

The best ones are from a grandmom.

And dont worry - you can use your horsehair ring when doing the dishes! 

Ring Cassiopeia, the original design by Nanna Salmi

If you wish to get yourself the perfect ring to clean your best

Champagne glasses, please, let us konow! Enquiries and orders

also by email

minna.maattanen@nannasalmi.com 

Spring time - nesting time

If you want to help birds building their nests in a springtime, 

hang horsehair or dog hair on the branches. All the birds are not this bold!

Photo Marju Lökström 

Among other materials horsehair is very usable for them, 

it´s soft and isolates well!

Photos Arja Lento/Yle, Nanna Salmi

Moss, bark, lichen, hay and hair - that´s what a good nest is made of!