Christmas decorations with fruits, spices and aromatic herbs: tricks, tips and tutorials to make them

How to make Christmas decorations at no cost from fruit, plants and aromatic herbs to bring perfume and beauty into our homes

He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him

How to make Christmas decorations at no cost from fruit, plants and aromatic herbs to bring perfume and beauty to our homes during the holidays

It is not necessary to buy Christmas decorations details if you let yourself be inspired by the gifts that nature itself offers us in the winter period. Branches of evergreen and other winter species, pine cones, fresh or dried leaves, aromatic herbs and small fruits can be used for the creation of Christmas decorations, starting from wreaths and centerpieces.





Read also: Creative recycling: how to transform orange peels into original and fragrant Christmas decorations

For the realization of yours Christmas decorations, you may find it useful to resort to:

It is preferable to have the possibility to collect what is necessary for the preparation of centerpiece, place cards and wreaths to hang on the walls directly from your garden or during a walk in the woods. You may find it useful to contact your neighbors or relatives if there are particular plants of your interest in their gardens, remembering how it is It is forbidden to cut branches or pruning trees in public parks, while it could be easy and fun to collect pine cones and twigs during a walk in the countryside or along a path away from traffic. If you spot evergreens or interesting decorative seedlings in other people's gardens, you might think about enriching your garden with them in spring, so that you can later use their branches, flowers, berries or leaves during the holiday season.

If it was necessary prune the branches of plants o collect aromatic herbs in a certain quantity, make sure to act with caution, avoiding damaging the plant both for its aesthetic appearance and, above all, putting its survival at risk during the winter. Branches, leaves and aromatic herbs can be used for theto create your decorations, also by weaving them together, or using a tray as a base on which to make a centerpiece or wire to give life to a Garland.



Index

Fruit

Apples, oranges, grapefruits, citrus peel and chestnuts they can be used to embellish your centerpieces and to enrich candle holders, but also for the creation of small place cards. It is part of the tradition, for example, to insert gods cloves in citrus fruits, such as oranges or mandarins, to obtain cheerful and aromatic decorations, to be placed in the center of the table or on an internal window sill. 

You can also create candles with orange peels.

Slices of orange and citrus peels they can in turn be dried on radiators and used in the composition of garlands to hang on doors, windows or walls.

Christmas decorations with fruits, spices and aromatic herbs: tricks, tips and tutorials to make them

@13Smile/Shutterstock

Read also: Tips and ideas to recycle orange peels

Pine cones, branches and leaves

Pine cones, evergreen branches, laurel leaves and branches and aromatic herbs they can be used without problems for decorations to be placed inside the home.

Pine cones and leaves lend themselves perfectly to the creation of a beautiful centerpiece with candle:

If you happen to collect them a few days in advance, it is important that they are kept inside bags of paper or newspaper, or placed on simple trays to be left uncovered, so that they are not damaged by humidity. From pine cones, branches and leaves earth residues must be removed with a cloth. If it is necessary to intervene with water, it is good to make sure to dry everything carefully to avoid the formation of rot. 

Ivy

Ivy is mainly used as a decorative climbing plant along external walls and low walls, but it can also be useful in the construction of Christmas decorations, as some of its parts can be pruned in such a way as to be inserted into a vase, making sure that the leaves fall outwards.



The ends must be placed in water immediately, so that the leaves do not wither.

Holly

Holly is one of the most typical Christmas decorations; its presence in homes and its use for the creation of candle holders, centerpieces and garlands is now traditional.

Female specimens of the plant produce the much-loved red berries. The branches must be protected from frost after being cut, to prevent the leaves and berries from blackening.

Mistletoe

Al mistletoe the Celtic peoples attributed magical and therapeutic properties; it was used to make drinks capable of healing all diseases and giving fertility, and was considered an antidote against any type of poison. According to what reported by Pliny the Elder and according to ancient traditions, the mistletoe should be collected at the beginning of the new moon, without using iron tools and without letting its branches touch the ground. Kissing under a mistletoe wreath it is believed it can bring luck and burn the mistletoe of the past year, to be replaced with that of the new year, it serves to ward off bad luck and ailments, as well as to propitiate the harvest.

Fir

As for the fir, both its branches full of needles and its pine cones they can be used to make wreaths, centerpieces or place cards. While the pine cones can be painted with colors suitable for wood or acrylics without fear of them being damaged, it is preferable not to apply any type of spray, even transparent, on the spruce branches collected, in order not to damage the needles. Both the branches and the pine cones withstand the temperatures of the interior without any problems.

Juniper

Juniper can be chosen as a decorative plant both to use its branches and its berries, which are blue in color. It can be suitable for making garlands in combination with holly or mistletoe. Its berries can embellish centerpieces and place cards.

Laurel

The branches and bay leaves, aromatic and of a very intense green, can be picked just before Christmas for the creation of wreaths and garlands. At the end of the holidays, its leaves can be left to dry by hanging the branches upside down, after having tied them with a string.

The dried bay leaves can be chopped and used in the kitchen in the preparation of herbal teas or in the seasoning of dishes.

Rosemary

Branches of rosemary, as well as to use the leaves in the kitchen, can be collected on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning and used for the realization of simple napkin holders, place cards or for the decoration of the centerpiece.

They can be arranged in a vase together with flowers or other aromatic herbs, or they can become part of crowns and garlands, or even be used for the decoration of handmade greeting cards  but also, for example, as a gift tag:

Christmas decorations with fruits, spices and aromatic herbs: tricks, tips and tutorials to make them

@shutterstock

Cinnamon sticks

Christmas decorations with fruits, spices and aromatic herbs: tricks, tips and tutorials to make them

@Agnes Kantaruk/Shutterstock

The whole cinnamon sticks are well suited to be used to make decorations, such as covering candles, centerpieces or to decorate gift packs and / or glass jars with jams, marmalades, etc. 

These are just ideas to be inspired by, then it's up to your imagination!

On Christmas decorations you might also be interested in:

add a comment of Christmas decorations with fruits, spices and aromatic herbs: tricks, tips and tutorials to make them
Comment sent successfully! We will review it in the next few hours.