Decorating your own home with your precious herbs or making decorations to give to family and friends is a tremendously satisfying way of ‘sharing the love!’ Who doesn’t enjoy the many rich fragrances associated with Christmas? To walk into a home highly scented with the natural aromas of herbs and spices lends an extra special welcoming effect. Try these few ideas yourself and then share them with those you love.
Herbal Christmas Decorations
Bay Leaf Trees
Buy a styrofoam tree form. Starting at the bottom, use either hot glue or straight pins and begin attaching the base of the leaves to the tree. Stagger your leaves as you work your way upward. Add small dried berries, a bit of gold paint on the edges of leaves, an anise star for the top, and other embellishments as you like. You can also poke a dowel rod up through the tree a few inches and place it in a pot for the potted version. Push the ‘stump’ into a cube of greenhouse foam and place moss around the top. Fill some tiny jars of herbs from your garden or infused oils (below). Tie red ribbon around each top, place them around the base, and now you have a wonderful gift for an herb-loving friend!
Mini Grapevine Wreaths
Collect lengths of thin grape vines to make 2” – 3” wreaths or purchase several ready made ones. Using hot glue, choose a variety of favorite dried herbs and pedals from your garden along with mini pinecones or other evergreen material. Add a raffia bow and ribbon for hanging.
Citrus Ornaments
Dry slices of orange in the oven at 250°F with the door slightly ajar for 3-4 hours, turning occasionally to ensure uniform drying. Decorate one side with cloves, anise, herbs, cinnamon sticks, berries…your choice! Add a raffia bow and ribbon for hanging.
You can also dry oranges or lemons and then string them together with star anise and bay leaves, adding some red berries in between. These make lovely decorations for hanging on mantles, doorways, and windows.
Herbal Infused Oils
For your natural loving family and friends, these oils will be very much appreciated! Herbs have so many healing properties, and making them into oils that are easily rubbed into the affected area will delight any who choose to use only natural remedies.
Rosemary and thyme are natural pain relievers with antiseptic properties. Rosemary increases circulation. Lavender, calendula, and chamomile are calming, anti-inflammatory, and healing making them useful for treating minor abrasions, cuts, and scrapes. Peppermint and eucalyptus are refreshing, cooling, and relieve soreness. Oregano is prized as an herbal antiseptic and also used for aching muscles and spider bites.
Place dried herbs in a clean, dry glass jar, your choice of size depending on how many smaller bottles you will fill. Cover with olive oil until one inch above herbs. Stir well and cap the jar tightly. Place the jar in a warm, sunny windowsill and shake once or more per day. After 4-6 weeks, strain the herbs out of the oil using cheesecloth, squeezing out as much as possible. Pour into glass bottles and store in a cool dark place.
There’s still plenty of time to make these simple gifts or the ones shared in Part I and Part II of this series. Sharing a handmade gift goes straight to the heart and cannot be topped when it comes to sharing the true spirit of giving at Christmas. I hope you’ll join the ranks of holiday hand-crafters if you haven’t already. Your joy will be multiplied with each handmade gift that is opened!
Please share your ideas for handmade gifts from the garden with us in the comments below.