BRIGHT STAR HAITIAN METAL DRUM CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT

This tree decoration is handmade in Haiti from scrap steel drums and hand painted. They are light enough to hang well on a tree and keep Haiti in mind during the holiday period. The star is 5 inches tall and 5.5 inches wide.

This is a Fair Trade item. Fair trade is a trade arrangement designed to help producers in devoping countries achieve sustainable and equitable conditions.

-When you visit Croix des Bouquets, the area of town known for Haitian metal art in the capital of Port-Au-Prince, you are met with a cacophony of tink, tink, tink as ball peen hammers strike sheets of steel. The sheets are cut from steel drums colored by oil and other liquids the drums at one time held. The process of turning sheets of metal into beautiful wall art is all done by hand, from cutting holes that become edges of trees and leaves, to accenting each lizard with a texture of scales, to painting or lacquering the final design. The artists are proud of their work, signing the pieces on the back side, leaving a raised, reversed signature on the front.