Bringing Nature Indoors for the Holidays

Holiday Wreath with Red Toyon Berries (Heteromeles arbutifolia), 

Photo Credit: UC Master Gardeners of Napa County

Bringing Nature Indoors for the Holidays

Nothing makes the holidays like decorating and entertaining.  The winter holidays deserve something special that can only be found by bringing nature inside from your garden.  For me, I find great joy from using the bits of nature that I find right outside my doorstep in my decorating: pine cones, sea shells, acorns, even air plants can be moved inside when temps turn cool.  These pieces of nature are like art, each one truly unique.

I get such joy from sharing my garden with my family and friends as we sit at the table and move around the house. Table place settings, fireplace mantels, decorating candles, making wreaths --- all can be made special and unique with your own personal garden finds.  If you do not have a garden, a walk through a forest or a walk along a seashore can produce unique nature-inspired finds, as well.

The Wreath

My favorite holiday ornament is the wreath that hangs on the front door: it is like a Welcome Mat to the Christmas Season.  It gives me great pleasure to make this out of found garden objects.  Here is a simple “how to” wreath you can try:

Things Needed:

Metal wreath shape from art store

Thin wire

Clippers

Nail or hook longer than the wreath is deep

Green Pine needles

Ribbons or yarn

A special ornament

Red Toyon berries.

Instructions:

Find young pine tree branches. Clip them to about 12”. Weave branches through metal frame. Secure with thin wire. Add berries, esp red or blue, and secure with fine steel string. (Look for red berries from Toyon bushes; they are the native plant of Los Angeles.) Add at the bottom of the wreath a pine cone and a favorite ornament.  Secure with a ribbon or, my favorite, white yarn (stands out nicely against the greenery).  Tiny extra “balls can be added. Or ball-shaped fruit, such as tiny apples or oranges can be substituted.  Don’t worry about flocking!  Just hang on the door with a big nail.  

Photo Credit, via A Piece of the Rainbow, Ananda

Tableside

The same sort of wreath can be used at your table around a candle.  Select a smaller wire frame and twist pine branches onto it.  Decorate with shiny balls but also bits of the garden, esp the red berries. In California, these would be Toyon.