Cornelia M. Parkinson - Holiday Gifts from Nature

For years, I shopped for Christmas and Hanukkah gifts in the conventional way going to crowded malls, waiting in long lines, spending too much money, and emerging with gifts that were good enough but seemed to be missing something.

Then it occurred to me to combine my lifelong interest in crafts such as wreath making with my desire to give more unique and personal holiday gifts. Creating gifts from nature is infinitely more pleasurable than shopping in stores, and it saves money. Equally important, making your own gifts saves time. You can work on gift projects at the time of year that suits your own schedule best, organizing your work in stages or doing it all in larger blocks of time.

After reading this booklet, you will be able to create the projects described here as well as use your imagination to improvise on variations. The step-by-step instructions are simple and basic, suitable for both the novice and the experienced crafter. In some cases, packaging ideas are also suggested, but for many of these projects, the gift in itself is already a beautiful presentation.

As one of the oldest holiday traditions, wreaths have become ubiquitous in December. In certain parts of the country, it has even become customary to keep them up until spring as a way to brighten the long winter months. Wreaths make wonderful holiday gifts, not only as seasonal decorations for doors, mantelpieces, or centerpieces, but also in herbal versions for year-round decorating anywhere in the home.

Best of all, wreaths are easy and inexpensive to make. When youre ready to present your handmade wreath, simply add a hand-printed tag that lists the ingredients or contains a holiday wish.

adapted from Herbs for Weddings & Other Celebrations

These adorable aromatic wreaths can be created in miniature to use as favors or made large to serve as decorations. For a variation, apply the project steps below to a Styrofoam ball, and present it as a topiary decoration. Once all the ingredients below are assembled, youll be ready to make many spicy wreaths. Why not organize a workshop?

What You Will Need

Stryofoam rings
Brown florists tape or textured fabric
Hanger
Glue
Assortment of dried materials from herb garden or spice cupboard

1. Use Styrofoam ring of desired size purchased at any craft shop or cut from cardboard, and wrap with brown florists tape or textured fabric.

2. Attach a small hanger at the back.

3. Cover the wreath generously with glue. Embed bay leaves; small nuts, pinecones, or acorns; bits of cinnamon bark; vanilla beans; whole aniseed, dill, cumin, caraway, poppyseeds anything dried from your herb garden or spice cupboard. Whole cloves and star anise are both especially fragrant and attractive. For color, glue on cardamom, dried orange peel, petals, rose hips, candied ginger, pistachios, whatever is available. Look around you, especially on the spice shelf in your favorite store, with an eye toward color, size, shape, and texture as well as fragrance.

4. Allow your wreath to dry thoroughly.

5. Fasten on a bow, if you wish.

For an aromatic miniature wreath, attach a variety of dried pods and spices to a small wreath form.

adapted from Christmas Trees

Single-faced wreaths, made by wiring the greens on only one side of a wreath ring, are designed for hanging on a wall or door, or to use as a centerpiece. Double-faced wreaths, with greens on both sides of the ring, are preferred by most people because they are more bushy and, since the wreath wire is hidden, they can be hung in windows.

What You Will Need

Tips of seasonal greens such as fir, holly, boxwood, pine or spruce
Hand pruners
Crimped wreath ring of desired size
23-guage wire

Assembly of Tools

1. Wind a few twists of wire around the wreath ring to fasten it securely.

2. Place a bunch of two to four tips of greens on one side of the ring. Wire the base of the bunch to the ring with two or three tight wraps around. Select some good bushy greens for this first bunch, because it must hide the base of the last bunch youll insert. If you are making a double-faced wreath, flip the ring over, and use the same method to wrap a similar bunch onto the back side. Place it almost, but not quite, opposite the first one.

3. Lay another bunch of greens over the base of the first bunch, hiding the wire, and wire this one to the ring. Continue in this fashion all the way around the ring. If it is a double-faced wreath, continue wiring on both sides, gently turning the ring over after each bunch is secured.

4. When you reach the spot where you began, tuck the base of the last bunch underneath the tops of the first that you wired. Wire it in carefully, so neither the stems nor the wire show.

Securing greens to the ring

5. Cut or break the wire and fasten it tightly with several twists to one of the wires or to the ring itself.

Wreath-Making Tip

Since the upper and lower sides of greens such as fir, holly, and boxwood look quite different, they must be faced when placing them on the ring so the pale side wont show. Pines look the same on both sides, so this facing is not necessary.

The eloquence of herbs is never more apparent than at holiday time. They speak of many things of ancient wisdom and future joy. Gifts made from herbs are not only a pleasure to give, they are equally delightful to make! You can use fresh, dried, or pressed herbs in any quantity available to you. Pick and choose from the projects below gifts that suit each persons lifestyle best, and build upon the suggestions with your own improvisations.

adapted from Herbs for Weddings & Other Celebrations

Basic flower arranging is a breeze if you follow the principles outlined below. Vertical, horizontal, or triangular designs are traditional and easiest to accomplish, and they usually work well for herbal arrangements, whether large or small. Choose a beautiful vase and plan your arrangement with its size in mind, deciding in advance how tall and how wide the arrangement should be.

What You Will Need

Vase in desired shape, color and size
Herbs, foliage, and flowers of varying lengths, the longest being twice the height of the vase

1. Position the tallest and longest side stems of your herbs, foliage, or flowers first. Use a ruler if you need to. This is the skeleton of your arrangement; never extend outside this framework.

2. Fill in these outermost perimeters with slightly shorter materials, both herbs and foliage, fleshing out your pattern.

3. Tuck more herbs and greens in between. I call this the poke and shove method of flower arranging. Dont be timid. Although your bouquet may look sparse and funny at first, poke and shove to your hearts content. Be assured it will work.