Today on 24
Days of a Baltic Christmas we discover the beauty of decorating with nature’s
bounty and make birdfeeders with pine cones!
Inviting
nature into the home is a recurring theme not just for Christmas, but many of
the Baltic holidays. Latvians weave wreaths from conifer branches to celebrate advent, hang garlands of greens throughout the home and decorate their
Christmas trees with straw and other natural ornaments. For our family, living
in the southeast means decorating our home with branches of holly from the
backyard and sprigs of mistletoe gathered from the enormous oaks in the
neighborhood. The boys gave me an amaryllis bulb this year that has slowly been
shooting greenery up preceding the unveiling of its showy red flowers. Even the fruit we eat this time of year serves
to colorfully decorate the table: pomegranates, tangerines and cranberries
among the last apples of fall.
It
is also tradition to decorate the exterior of the home, and although
Christmas lights are modern favorites, the customary decorations are not giant
blowup Santas, nor are they plastic reindeer. The time-honored decorations are
found in nature, the beauty of the forest brought to your door. We made our own
wreath this year, using plants found in South Carolina. Notice the purple beautyberry,
the red holly berries, the (naturalized) sawtooth oak acorns and sweetgum
seeds. Orange slices can be dehydrated in the oven to make colorful additions
to a wreath or garland.
Another
of my favorite ornaments for use in the outdoors are pine cones. We were
visiting a friend and discovered a horse pasture full of longleaf pine cones –
large, round, with sturdy scales, perfect for our uses. Do note many species of
pine (including longleaf) have cones with armed umbos – this means there is a
sharp projection at the scale tip of seed-bearing cones. But this just means a
little attention must be paid while working with the cones.
Using string or craft wire one can wire cones into their wreaths, or hang them from a Christmas
tree. Our favorite pine cone activity this year was to make birdfeeders.
Materials needed include: a pine cone, peanut butter, birdseed, string. The
kids spread the peanut butter on the pine cone and then roll in the birdseed,
after which the parent helps tie a string around the tip of the cone to hang it
from a tree for the neighborhood birds to enjoy. If you can't find pine cones try using a piece of stale bread and a cookie cutter, as on the table in the picture above. Such an easy project, but the
results are still pleasing to the eye.
However
you choose to bedeck your home these holidays, remember to keep your eyes open
as there are materials everywhere! Whether they be dried grasses or flowers
found on an evening stroll, fallen acorns, seeds or pine cones from the tree
down the street, or simply a branch from a tree or shrub in your backyard, the
simplicity of natural decorations is an integral part of a Baltic Christmas.
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| Our friend's horses - Wik, Zen and Huck |
Day Sixteen on
24 Days of a Baltic Christmas – more on Christmas trees and their decorations
and DIY puzuri!
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