The Fate of a Christmas Tree: Free Vintage Holiday Collage Sheet
Quick Summary
Download a free printable collage sheet titled Het Lot van een Kerstboom (“The Fate of a Christmas Tree”)
Features 19th-century Dutch illustrations showing a Christmas tree’s journey from forest to home
Perfect for vintage holiday junk journals, collage art, and festive mixed media projects
Includes a sheet of six charming antique holiday story scenes
Ideal for adding narrative charm to your seasonal crafts
A Whimsical Christmas Tale Told Through Vintage Art
This free printable is something truly special: a series of antique illustrations tracing the life cycle of a Christmas tree, from its quiet beginnings in the forest to its grand moment in a festive home, and eventually, its fate after the holidays have passed.
Originally published as part of a 19th-century Dutch print series, the sheet is titled Het Lot van een Kerstboom (which translates to The Fate of a Christmas Tree). Each little panel tells part of the story, almost like an old-fashioned picture book or holiday comic strip. It’s full of charm, nostalgia, and just the right touch of humor.
Why This Vintage Christmas Ephemera Is So Delightful
Most vintage holiday artwork celebrates the beauty of decorated trees, cheerful children, or snowy landscapes. What makes this piece stand out is its storytelling. Instead of just showing the tree as a symbol, it follows the journey of a single tree across the entire holiday season.
That makes it a fantastic conversation piece when used in your projects. Each panel is rich with detail from bundled-up villagers cutting the tree, to the family decorating it in their cozy parlor, to the quiet moment when the once-grand tree is finally set outside. It’s a gentle reminder of how fleeting and special the season truly is.
About the Free Printable Collage Sheet
To make this historical artwork easy to use, I’ve carefully restored and formatted it as a high-resolution collage sheet.
What you’ll get:
One full-page sheet featuring six illustrated panels from the 1800s
Crisp vintage linework and hand-colored details
Lightly aged tones for an authentic antique feel
Because the illustrations are contained in neat panels, they’re simple to cut out individually and use as journal cards, focal images, or storytelling elements in your spreads.
Creative Ideas for Using the Panels
Here are a few fun ways to use this printable in your holiday crafting:
Junk journals – Cut out each panel to create a flip-through story spread, or use them as mini journal cards tucked into pockets
Holiday cards – Feature one scene on the front of a card with a stamped greeting or metallic border
Mixed media art – Layer the panels with vintage sheet music, lace, and ephemera for a rich collage background
Gift tags – Back them with kraft paper, punch a hole, and tie with twine for story-themed holiday tags
Because the scenes are rectangular and self-contained, they work beautifully as stand-alone embellishments or as part of larger designs.
More Free Printables You Might Like
If you enjoyed this printable, here are a few other vintage Christmas ephemera sets you might like from my site:
Vintage Christmas Ephemera – Journal cards and labels featuring turn-of-the-century Christmas artwork.
Vintage Christmas Illustrations – Cheerful 19th-century Christmas art in journal card and circular formats.
Christmas Photo Ephemera – Antique black-and-white holiday photos turned into printable collage sheets.
Old-Fashioned Christmas – Cozy Victorian-era Christmas cards and magazine art.
Final Thoughts
This charming 19th-century Dutch Christmas print is more than just decoration. It’s a little slice of holiday storytelling history. Whether you use the panels individually or as a complete sheet, they’ll bring warmth, humor, and a sense of old-world tradition to your projects.
Print them out, cut them up, and let this tiny tale of a Christmas tree add a bit of festive storytelling to your holiday crafts.
You may also enjoy these free collage sheets.
Terms of use:
Free to use for personal or commercial projects. You may print the collage sheets as many times as you wish for your personal crafts or in your projects to sell, including: scrapbooks, junk journals, collage art, etc. You may not redistribute or sell the collage sheets “as is" in either print or digital form.
If you wish to share the files on your own website, please do not make the files available for download directly from your site. Instead, include an image with a link back to this site.
To the best of my knowledge, these are all royalty free images that are in the Public Domain in the US. However, you should always do your own research if you plan to use them commercially.
