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Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites’ Free Sundays at the Museums Returns on Feb. 2
January 24th, 2025
February’s hands-on activities to celebrate Valentine’s Day include decorating a pinprick embroidery card and quilling a paper valentine.
Free Sundays at the Museums, Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites’ (HBMS) monthly series designed to provide families with a fun-filled, educational introduction to the region’s history, returns for 2025 starting Feb. 2. The monthly series includes complimentary admission to and free art activities at both the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts and the Moravian Museum of Bethlehem on the first Sunday of each month from February-November. Hours are 11 a.m. -4 p.m. in February and March and 11 a.m. -5 p.m. April-November.
“At Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites, our goal is to ensure everyone has the opportunity to experience our sites in a way that’s both accessible and memorable,” said Lindsey Jancay, HBMS Vice President and Managing Director. “Free Sundays at the Museums is one of our most popular programs because it allows the entire community to visit and learn about Bethlehem’s incredible history.
“Thanks to the generosity of the Jones Children Fund, families can explore the rich heritage preserved in the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts and the Moravian Museum of Bethlehem while enjoying interactive activities that bring history to life, something that’s especially meaningful as we continue to celebrate the recent Moravian Church Settlements-Bethlehem World Heritage Site designation.”
Free Sundays at the Museums dates and activities through spring are as follows:
Feb. 2
Kemerer Museum: Pinprick Embroidery Cards
– Decorate a Valentine’s card using the Victorian-era method of pin pricking, which involves using a pin or tack to create a special design.
Moravian Museum: Quilled Paper Valentine
– Make a Valentine’s card using the technique of quilling, which uses rolled strips of paper to create decorative designs.
March 2
Kemerer Museum: Make Your Own Glass Paperweight
– Make your own glass paperweight using a candle holder and decorative paper. Glass paperweights became popular in the mid-1800s due to the affordability of paper and the resulting trend of letter writing.
Moravian Museum: Marbled Paper
– Create your own marbled paper journal using shaving cream and liquid watercolors. In the 1700s, bookbinders commonly used marbled paper to decorate the blank pages inside the front and back covers of books.
April 6
Kemerer Museum: Make Your Own Beeswax Flowers
– Learn how to make a bouquet of beeswax roses, a popular pastime for women in the 1800s and a reflection of the era’s fascination with the natural world. Moravian Museum: Redware-inspired Eggs
– Paint your own redware-inspired wooden eggs. Redware, a type of earthenware pottery, was particularly popular among German communities in the 1700s and 1800s in Pennsylvania.
May 4
Kemerer Museum: Shellwork Trinket Box
– Create your own shellwork trinket box. Shell collecting rose in popularity during the 1800s, and Victorian women used shells to create floral arrangements, decorate picture frames and make doll clothing.
Moravian Museum: Design Your Own Fraktur
– Celebrate an important milestone by designing your own Fraktur, a highly stylized folk art document traditionally used to commemorate events such as births, baptisms or marriages. Free Sundays at the Museums are funded with the support of the Jones Children Fund. More information on the Free Sundays events is available at
www.historicbethlehem.org/visit-us/experience/free-sundays-at-the-museums/.
