We’ve been working towards minimizing our waste throughout the year, but I’ve been putting in more of an effort this year to reduce our waste, support local businesses, and focus more on doing things together that won’t break the bank for Christmas.
Last year was our first big push towards reducing commercial waste. (Check out last year’s Christmas here!) And we hoped to continue that tradition this year! I just want to share a peak into our Christmas decorations and plans for this year. I’ve already come out with some of our low waste, and cost friendly gift ideas – so make sure to visit those for some easy ideas!
Where have I been?
Another accidental hiatus has occurred from the blog this past month. We had a bout with Covid (we’re all fully recovered), are renovating a large portion of our home, and I’m definitely slowing down while in the third trimester for baby3! This will be our first natural birth, and hopefully our first home birth! So as the weeks pass by, I’ve been filling more and more time with preparing hearty freezer meals and trying to organize our home amid the chaos.
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The Tree
We decided in 2019 to forgo the fake tree and opted into a rootball pine tree. The idea behind that was to not ‘waste’ a cut tree and hopefully have a new tree we could enjoy for years to come. We had some thoughtful friends gift us their rootball tree for planting as well!
After the Christmas season was over, we moved the trees outdoors during a warm stretch to our compost pile. The roots were buried in compost for the duration of the cold months and the trees seemed to thrive there! (The compost pile stayed about 45-50 F throughout winter, so there wasn’t a huge shock to the root system of both trees).
Unfortunately, this past spring, summer, and fall were unexpectedly hot and incredibly dry. After struggling for several months, both trees did not make it past September.
We decided to try a live, cut tree this year from the same tree farm as last year. They have a lovely operation and are super friendly to chat with. They do not spray any of their trees and they’re all beautiful!
Since the trees are unsprayed, once the season is over, we can chip this tree and use it in our Back to Eden garden next spring. They told us one of the keys to success in keeping a cut tree looking well for several weeks is to make a fresh cut at the base when you get home, to water within 15 minutes, and to always use hot water to keep the wound from sealing over – preventing the tree from drinking enough water.
Stirling found a star ornament he made a church last year that has baby Jesus on it with a bible verse, and we all agreed it would make the perfect tree topper for the year!
There’s always a section at the bottom when you have little helping hands that gets so much love with the decorations!
Decorations
Dough
We decided to use mostly food based products for our Christmas decorations this year. The boys made cinnamon ornaments with cookie cutters and made beads to use for the garland. We tried “White Dough” clay using cornstarch, baking soda, and water for the first time this year. They foraged for various things in our woods to use as stamps to imprint on the dough. Unfortunately, these turned out super brittle and only a handful survived!
Citrus
One of my favorite decorations from last year was using citrus we had on hand that was slightly past it’s prime! I had sliced them and baked them in the oven for several hours. They turned quite dark, but I still loved the way they turned out! Most have survived the entire year from last year, and I incorporated them into some other decorations this year!
I did want to add to our collection since we needed more to fill the tree. This year I sliced slightly overripe apples, pears, and lemons thinly with our mandolin slicer (which was perfect for giving consistent, thin slices which made drying time easier). We decided to begin making decorations while we were quarantined at home for two weeks. I mentioned in passing while talking with a friend how I couldn’t wait to get out of quarantine to grab a few different variety of citrus and some cranberries for garland – and bless her sweet heart, we had a door drop off the next day with a lovely variety! The oranges and grapefruit are by far my favorite.
Another change from last year; I opted out of drying in the oven and used our dehydrator! Wow was I impressed with the results! I’ve found the discoloration that came from our citrus last year was from me terribly over cooking them. Using the dehydrator allowed a lower and slower drying process which preserved the color much better! I kept everything at 140 F and ran them for about 24 hours.
We purchased our dehydrator from Cabela’s several years ago. If you are looking for a similar option, I would recommend something similar to this with stainless steel trays, and an adjustable timer and temperature option. If you need a more affordable option, those extra bells and whistles aren’t necessary, they just make things much easier! Something simple such as this option would work well, too!
I had some beets stored in the back of our cold room that did not store well. I adore the rich color of golden beets and hoped they would do well with dehydrating. Unfortunately, even in the dehydrator they turned a mucky yellow color and ended up as treats for the goats.
The pears we used came from our trees and had either been badly bruised or had gone slightly mushy. The apples and lemons were left overs from a Misfit Market box we had gotten a few weeks prior that hadn’t gotten used in time! We love getting our Misfit Market boxes during the winter for a fresh supply of organic produce delivered straight to our door! Feel free to sign up to try a box with our referral code: COOKWME-LB4JCJ
You will enjoy a discount off your first box, and this allows us to get a discount on future boxes as well!
Garland
I always loved the nostalgia of popcorn and cranberry garland for the Christmas tree. This year, I made a point to made some! The boys were lined up, each taking turns handing me different ingredients to string up (of course, more than half of the popcorn bowl went into their bellies!).
We did a variety with beads made from our dough ornaments, dried fruits, popcorn, and cranberries! Overall, I love how they turned out, however; I don’t think we will ever use popcorn again! As our dogs have eaten all the strands off the tree in a matter of two weeks. *Lesson learned*
Wreaths
Before the first hard frosts came through, I harvested or foraged for quite a bit of herbs and berries to use for teas and tinctures over the winter – but saved some specifically for a few projects I had in mind for our roadside stand. Normally, I only sell plants, seedings, and produce during the growing season but I thought it would be fun to offer a few different options for the winter season this year!
Dried herbal wreaths have become one of my favorite additions to our home’s decorations! I used a variety of wreath forms and in different sizes and filled them with dried fruits, herbs, foliage, and spices. Many sold, but I made sure to keep a few for our home! I also found some globe wreath forms that can be hung as decoration, too!
Around the House
When in town, we usually stop at the local Dollar Tree to pick up some small crafts or workbooks for the boys (You really can’t beat only paying $1!) During one of these trips, we found some battery powered fairy lights that I knew I wanted to incorporate around the house for our Christmas decorations. The lights are dainty, warm, and just give the perfect touch to some of our nature-based displays. I was able to find some similar battery powered lights online if your local stores don’t carry them!
We spent one morning cutting a few branches off our juniper trees for green foliage, hunting for pinecones, and collecting what was left of the highland cranberries from the garden. I paired them with some of the bright citrus, fairy lights, and cinnamon ornaments for some warm, cozy decorations. My very favorite baskets for harvesting have been the small bolga baskets! They’re sturdy, not too bulky, and easy for little hands to use as well!
Anything we do not save for next year will be composted!
Gift Wrapping
I’ve spent the last few months saving shipping paper and good quality paper bags to use for gift wrapping this year. Paired with some garden twin, dried fruit, and berries they turned out well! I was able to avoid using tape with the twine, so all of the packaging can be composted afterwards! Stirling did mention he missed the colorful paper from last year, so I think next year we will have to do some decorating of our paper prior to wrapping.
(Before anyone accuses me of depriving my children of xyz because of the wrapping paper… He was fully on board when I explained to him why we were reusing this paper and how we didn’t want to be wasteful by buying ‘regular’ wrapping paper.)
Love seeing the natural beauty of your home and ornaments. Merry Christmas.