I have always loved using natural materials to decorate the seasons with...gathering bunches of budding twigs in Spring, or early-blooming bulbs; gathering sand and seashells and filling canning jars and vases with them during summer trips to the beach; clipping branches flying with autumn colors, toting pumpkins inside, and piling up gourds in a bumpy heap for fall; and for winter, gathering pinecones, holly, pyracantha branches heavy with red-orange fruit, bare twigs, and fir, juniper, and pine boughs.
I think pinecones and holly are my very favorites for winter, at least up until the eve of Twelfth Night. It's also called the Feast of the Epiphany. On January 5th, the eve, ALL greens gathered for Christmas must be burned! Every needle, every twig! I'll write more about that obscure holiday later. It's one of my favorite holidays and absolutely steeped in lore.
For now, I have quite a few wooden boxes and baskets filled with pinecones from my trees. I have no fir trees in the yard, but I do have a very old, very spare and gnarled juniper that makes its tiny cones and drops a few fragrant green boughs around this time of year.
Do you have a favorite natural material for the Yuletide season?
Thank'ee for stopping by.
Kind regards,
The Merry Olde Dame
I've always liked the natural too, since a young girl. Love to collect pretty stones, shells, and pinecones. Collection cuttings and trying to re root them for my own yard. Nature is so giving to us.
ReplyDeleteYou must have a green thumb, Faith! What a great idea to root the cuttings!
ReplyDeleteI like gathering evergreen branches and pine cones for decorating too. Free for the taking.
ReplyDeleteI'm new to your blog and plan on reading some of your older posts to get to know you.
I do gather things from my walks and the woods around our house for the holidays but I would like to know more about burning them on Jan 5th does it bring good luck for the new year or are you just burning the old of previous year?
ReplyDeleteCathy
Yes, there are pine trees on the grounds and they drop such pretty pinecones. The yucca cactus had dried pods from their blooms in the early spring and one oak tree drops the cutest acorns this time of year. I do love putting everything in baskets! Wishing you a blessed Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment. You are a no reply blogger, so I could not email. I am happy I clicked on your name and found you had a blog! I will add you to my sidebar. I scrolled to the beginning and see you are passionate about rescue...something near and dear to my heart. Your etsy shop is pretty cool, too. I will be ordering some of your sweet labels.
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving :)
Oh dear, Rugs and Pugs, I certainly don't mean to be a No Reply blogger! I will have to try to fix that! Thank you, fellow pet rescuer, for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteGranny, I love your blog! Acorn Hollow, I will be posting all about Twelfth Night after Christmas. Yes, it wards off bad luck, but some BROOM LORE for the New Year that I know will help with bringing in the good luck! I'll be posting that, too. Yesteryear Embroideries, do you live in the desert, too? We have yucca pods and a lot of us old-timers gather them and spray paint them silver and gold!
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