Many of these immigrants settled in the Lancaster county area of Pennsylvania and were fleeing religious persecution from their homelands. Symbols of faith were common in German Scherenschnitte , and were often circular in design, featuring hearts, flowers, birds, and other animals. This paper-cutting art form was used to convey love messages towards God, as well as by men to express love towards their sweethearts. In fact, Hallmark Cards owns a collection of Scherenschnitte art and their artists continue to use them today for inspiration. To make a traditional Scherenschnitte paper cutting, the paper is marked with half a design, then folded in half and the paper is snipped away bit by bit until only the design is left.
Tiny cuts create fancy edges or holes in the paper to decorate the picture.
Many 19th century paper cuttings were mounted on dark colored backgrounds to show off the silhouette design. Fold doily paper in half, cut a half of a heart design out that will fit onto the front of the folded black paper. Unfold the doily to reveal the whole heart design and mount onto black paper. This dove was created using one of the Chrismon-Kids patterns. I used a small, sharp pointed scissors, and a small hole punch to randomly cut the designs into the pattern.