Working with nature while flower farming has me thinking I should be working for nature during the holiday season too.

Plastic wreaths, plastic trees, plastic tinsel. It all has to go somewhere after it's served its purpose of holiday cheer. Maybe not this year, maybe not next year but somewhere down the line it has to go somewhere. Buried under ground, washed out to sea, or burned in the air. Nobody's perfect - I’m far from that - but maybe we can be conscious because all change all starts with that.

This season we're experimenting with a few new decorations; cranberry garland, orange slice and salt dough ornaments, and natural greenery. I am also making an effort to be content with a little less. A few less physical non-degradable presents, a few less plastic ornaments, and a little less time on tiktok because all my hours will be spent threading cranberries onto jute cord and keeping a toddler from eating dried orange slices

This is in no way step by step instructions - there are plenty of Pinterest instructions for that. This is simply me sharing my experiments in hopes that you might feel inspired to do the same!

Cranberry Garland

I loved this craft! Mine currently sits on my wood slab coffee table and serves as the perfect pop of color against the wood grain and evergreen wreath. It would be beautiful in a table setting or even draped around a tree.

What I used:

• 12oz package of fresh cranberries

• jute cord or hemp sting if you want the brown fiber look (the thinner the better I found)

• sharp large eye needle

*This makes about 6ft of garland

I put all the cranberries on fresh and am letting them dry on the string without any type of preservative. Cranberries are fairly low moisture and are drying on the string instead of rotting. My hope is to place it outside for the birds instead of throwing it way when I am finished with it! I highly recommend trying this or something similar.

Salt Dough Ornaments

I think salt dough crafts are going to be a go-to of mine. So simple but they add a more refined look to the other natural decor!

What I used:

• 2 c. flour

• 1 c. salt

• enough water to make a firm play dough consistency (approx. one cup)

  • I found stickier dough worked better for pushing in greenery and cranberries to leave in and firmer dough worked better for stamping in designs to leave an impression

• jute cord to hang

• oven to bake

  • My ornaments took 30-40 minutes at 300 degrees to dry. I flipped my thickest ornaments half way through because I didn’t feel the bottoms were drying. This is a “feel it out” process that depends on how thick your ornaments are and how wet your dough was. The only thing to worry about is browning them or cooking them too fast so they dry unevenly

*This recipe gave me enough dough for at least 15 ornaments.

The options are endless with this one! I simply cut out circular designs with a biscuit cutter on dough rolled out to 1/4 inch. Cutting a mix of different sized circles gave these ornaments a little dimension. I stamped in impressions, and pushed in evergreen, and cranberries. However, I saw salt dough used in all different ways. Some had center punched salt dough stars to string on garland, some had rolled the dough into beads, other had added cinnamon and spices to not only add fragrance but also make it a terracotta color. I highly recommend playing around with these. Once again I used fresh - not dried - cranberries and evergreen and let them dry in the oven while baking the ornaments. The cranberries were cut in half and pressed into the dough. A stickier consistency worked best to get the pressed in elements to stay while avoiding glue. Some recipes suggest adding glitter, paints, and varnish to keep them from degrading over the years. In my opinion that is the point in making the switch from plastics. I want decorations that will one day break down and decompose!

Dried Citrus Slices

There is something simply mesmerizing when the sunlight catches warm colors of dried citrus - as if nature created its own stained glass.

What I used:

• Oranges, clementines, and grapefruit cut into 1/8’’ slices

• cookie sheet with a cooling rack placed on it in the oven or a dehydrator

  • The cooling rack on the cookie sheet gives the slices air flow to speed up drying. The oven was set to 200 degrees to keep from burning

• jute cord or floral wire

• a non-toxic glue

• a lot of time!

*each piece of fruit gave me 5-6 slices

This project is fairly straightforward but it does take a lot of time. I had orange slices in the dehydrator for over 24 hours. In the oven they only took 3-9 hours at 200 degrees. Drying time depended on size of the fruit and the thickness they were cut. I found that the color of the fruit slices was more vibrant if I took the slices out before they were completely dry. They began to brown if left in the oven or dehydrator past a certain point. The fruit dried down completely within the next day or two even if it was made into an ornament or attached to a wreath. My dried citrus has been made into ornaments by gluing (with nontoxic glue) evergreen and cranberries to the front. I have also wired the slices onto my evergreen wreaths. It is even beautiful just place on a mantel or incorporated into table settings. Eventually I would love to manipulate these slices into a long garland. Spoon Fork Bacon does a great job of explaining dried citrus even further if you need better step by step instructions.

Fresh Wreaths

My favorite way to bring nature into my home for the holidays is fresh wreaths. While this craft might take a little longer to master, it is well worth it to keep plastic decor off of your door!

What I used:

• Wreaths are about as customizable as the come. They can be adapted to fit any theme and utilize any materials you have.

• Wild vine cut from various places around our yard

• evergreen bows (white pine and spruce are my favorite)

• dried flowers and grasses

• cranberries

• warm water

• floral wire

• wire cutters

• jute cord

• non-toxic glue can be used to hold extras in place

• Wilt-Stop (a biodegradable spray to keep cut greens from drying out)

Making a full sized fresh wreath can be quite intimidating with so ornament size ones are the perfect place to start! For ornament sized wreaths I cut a 2 ft piece of vine and soak it little by little in warm water to make it more pliable. I wrap it around itself so it stays loosely in a circle. Tuffs of evergreen are attached in small groups with a continuous string of floral wire. Wrapping the wire around also helps to keep the vine in place. I attached cranberries in two different ways. One way was to poke wire through each one and the other way was to use glue. Jute cord can be used to cover areas of excess wire. Try to avoid adding in plastic or foam berries, poinsettias, and bows. This can take away from intention to reduce holiday waste. In my opinion letting the natural textures shine is what it is all about. The best places to learn the art of fresh wreaths is through Youtube or local classes. Wreath making is a skill that is developed over time as you learn the techniques you prefer. Don’t get discouraged!