Choose Natural Decorations for the Holidays
Want to save money, pollinators & the planet from plastic this holiday season? Choose natural decorations!
We did and now we have a ‘Winter Workshop’ creating beautiful decorations that are plastic & metal free!
Read on dear friend read on…
As gardeners we are all trying our best
to use earth-friendly practices everywhere we can in our lives from our garden into our homes…
During the holiday season, gift-giving & decorations can make being ‘earth-friendly’ quite a challenge.
But it’s one we can achieve with natural decorations
Natural Decorations
have so many benefits for YOU & Wildlife in that they
help pollinators, birds & other wildlife
create abundant SMILES
make decorating this holiday season super easy
last ALL Winter long
and if you chose to gather your own you’ll get to see nature in all her Winter beauty!
It’s been 20 years since I made my first natural wreaths for giving to friends.
Our kids & I would walk into the ‘Winter Wonderland’ of our woods to collect greenery, rosehips, dried flowers & pinecones.
Thermos of hot cocoa in hand and our dog Candy leading the way… what a lovely way to spend a Winter day!
Every year since my old barn turns into a Winter Workshop!
Fragrant evergreens, twinkle lights, holiday music playing (the Peanuts Christmas album mostly!) and lots of hot cocoa make for a VERY HAPPY OLD BARN!
The kids are all grown up but still the natural decorating fun continues.
I make all of our holiday decorations for our home using only natural materials found in our woods. I also make gnomes, centerpieces & garlands to give as gifts to friends & family.
But now that we have Lazy Dirt Flower Farm we get the share them with YOU!
GNOMES, GARLANDS, SWAGS are all created in the barn and get decked out in Nature’s beautiful of evergreens, berries and more!
Even a vintage Tonka dump truck comes along every November to get decked out for the holidays!
We use the same method from all those years ago
It starts with a walk in the woods to find greens & a dash of whimsy for your orders.
Then I bring all back to the barn to get crafty without using ANY metal or plastic
WHY?
Because every decoration MUST naturally decompose to become a shelter for pollinators & birds. (mini-brush piles in your garden!)
I’m so excited about this year’s Winter Workshop!
Besides fragrant evergreens & collecting berries, grasses and pinecones…
there’s beautiful DRIED FLOWERS from my friend Claire at Fernwood Flower Farm!
I can’t wait to make boutonnieres for the gnomes & add them to the garlands & other arrangements— especially John’s vintage Tonka dump truck!
What I’ve loved the most about making natural decorations
Knowing no plastics or metals are used. Being able to only gather what I need from the land is so important to me. Instead of cutting trees ect I only take snips & pieces of plants that are thriving. Many are native plants I’ve planted over the years just for holiday decorating & as bird feeders.
For example, every season I only take a few branches of Winterberry as the birds will eat the berries in late February when food is scarce & the berries are dried on the stems.
Walking into the woods on cold snowy days~ you see so many different things. I know I should bring a camera to promote the decorations on social media ect.
But for me, each walk to gather items for an arrangement really is a time to connect with nature. I even say a little prayer for Nature to lead me to the whimsy the person needs to have in their gnome, wreath or bouquet.
LOVE playing in my 220 year old barn~ bringing the foraged things together on old worktables under twinkle lights. Sounds of vintage Christmas music and the barn creaking from the wind fill my heart (plus there’s a raccoon in there somewhere goofing around!)
Seeing smiles when you all pick up your orders. Watching a little girl who hugged the gnome centerpiece last week was priceless!
Whether you gather your own or adopt one of my gnomes…
I hope you go out into your garden to collect a snip or three evergreens to make simple natural decorations. Try a #30stemchallenge for extra dash of fun! Remember NEVER collect from invasive or endangered species! Nor from state/federal or other private properties without permission!
Want to stay inside sipping cocoa & have me do all the gathering instead? Check out my little holiday shop
You can also send a special request. This is how the annual decorating of the Tonka truck began!
Just send your dreams for natural holiday decorations to me HERE. Creating special natural holiday decorations for your home would be an honor indeed!
