Festive Foraging

FESTIVE FORAGING    

Christmas decorations don't have to be all bling! I think there is nothing better than a little rustic charm.

Just take a wander out and about and see what nature has to offer. Have a potter around your garden, there you will be sure to find a wealth of living decorations to just snip and bring indoors. Get out and go for a countryside stroll, and gather up some of natures own decorations, you find plenty of twigs and sprigs in the hedgerows.

Fir cones, twigs, bark, seedheads, dried fruits, all make natural wonderful decorations for your home.

The Christmas tree is at the heart of festive decorations and looks magical laden with natural, home-made treasures.
 
Make some beaded pine cones - thread a length of beading wire with a selection of beads, and attach to the top of the pine cone, finishing with a raffia bow, leave the cones natural or spray them silver or gold.

Weave larch or Cornus stems into tiny circles and choose a few small bunches of cones to hang from the tree.

 The spiky round fruits of the Plane trees look fantastic sprayed silver and finished off with a pretty ribbon to hang. They make fasinating Christmas baubles for the tree.

Allium seed heads look fantastic as christmas decorations. Purple Sensation is just lovely sprayed and displayed around the home, and why not use a few as tree decorations. Allium Schubertii seed heads are stunning, spray them with silver or crimson paint and use one to crown the top of your tree, looks spectacular!

Use branches brought down by autumn storms as 'alternative ' Christmas trees - spray them with silver, gold or white paint, stand them in a container, then hang them with decorations. To keep it natural looking just add pine cones and small bunches of poppy seed heads tied onto the branches with raffia.

Make a wreath by weaving a circle from the branches of long spindly birch twigs, add a sprigs of silvery green Scots pine, some fluffy old man's beard - clematis seedheads. Finish it off with berries and cones, attached with wire. Tie up with a piece of raffia for a more natural look or use pretty ribbon hang.

Talking of Twigs, how about making some twig stars for the tree or to hang around the house.- Wire equal lengths of thin birch twigs together to create two triangles. Invert one triangle over the other and secure with some silver wire. Then, tie on to the tree with pretty ribbon. You could keep them natural or spray then silver or gold. Guess you could also do this with more larger twigs and make a big star, then twine fairy lights around it and hang it in the window.

So, pull on them boots and get out foraging!

D.Moss