Master Gardener Notes

Natural Decorations for Christmas Trees

Jeanette McDonald '97

There is nothing prettier than a Christmas card with a picture of an old fashion Christmas tree decorated with hand made decorations made by family members. Right now is the time to start collecting your natural materials for your tree.

Each family member can get involved in this special project. You can acquire many things from your own yard and garden. Get started by deciding the color scheme for your tree, be it gold, silver, red, or blue. Matching your lights with the color of your bows makes for a lovely tree. Here is a list of things to gather throughout the spring, summer and autumn.

Pinecones are about the easiest to acquire, especially now. All you need to do is screw a small cup hook into the back of the cone, tie a small bow onto the hook and hang on the tree. Select several different sizes and types of cones for variety.

Acorns: Gather different sizes and cluster them together, hold with glue (you may want to spray them with a gloss sealant), add your bow and hang.

Thistle: Be careful with this one! Put 3 to 5 in an arrangement, tie on a bow and lay on the branches of the tree.

Dried flowers make for the most beautiful addition. At the first hint that your roses are starting to wilt, carefully cut a small bouquet, hang them upside down and let them dry thoroughly. A cluster or a single rose with a bow can be so attractive.

If you plan a vacation to the shore this summer, why not buy or find some small sand dollars and starfish. You can also use pretty seashells. All you need to do is add your bow and here is yet another natural look for your tree.

Different varieties of nuts in the shell can be grouped and glued together and hung with a bow.

Seedpods can be one of the prettiest of all decorations. They can add a lot of color to the tree and there is no limit to where you can find these.

Money plant with its silvery white circles can be trimmed and clustered to a beautiful little nose gay. You can tie these little clusters with a bow and lay on the branches. If you are using a metallic ribbon your items, this is a very attractive addition.

The pods from a yucca plant can be hung in clusters of 5, 6 or more. After they have bleached out and are a nice light color, glue your ribbon to the base of the pod, hang upside down like a bell, and hang on the edge of the tree branches. If you have access to cotton ball pods, you can use them in much the same way. Take a close look around your yard or garden. Maybe you have some pods from lupines or columbine flowers that you can make an ornament with.

Holly is always a nice addition, especially if there are a lot of red berries on your sprig. A bow on the stem can be used as your hanger also.

Feathers, especially if they are colorful or downy (like that of an ostrich) can also be used on the tree.

Dried fruit is a real attraction on the tree. Use slices of orange, apple, pear, lemon and grapefruit. Slice your fruit 1/8 inch thick, dip in a solution of 1/2lemon concentrate and 1/2water. Make sure that the fruit is well covered. Line several cookie sheets with brown paper bags and heat oven to 175 degrees. Leave in oven for two hours, turn fruit over and leave in oven at least 1-1/2 more hours. This will add four more colors to your tree decorations and a bow will add a Christmassy touch.

Straw flowers are about as easy as it gets when collecting colorful dried flowers.

In the autumn, it is not hard to find the little strawberry ears of corn. They can be hung on the tree with your cup hook in the back and a bow to brighten up the new ornament. Another is the lovely flower that can be made from colored cornhusks. These are really lovely and can be put into an arrangement after the holidays.

If you have access to bark from a white cedar tree, lay the bark flat on a table, use a cookie cutter and trace the shape, cut out and put a small hole in the ornament, tie a bow and hang on tree.

You can make the apple sauce/cinnamon cookies in many shapes and the aroma that fills the room is a real homey accent.

Why not gather several empty bird nests and rest on the tip of the branches to finish the natural look? You may even be handy with decorating eggs; the empty eggshell can be pained and dyed to many beautiful decorations.

There are many natural beauties out there, and they can be used for your natural Christmas tree. Remember, there will not be another Christmas tree like it in the whole world.

Master Gardener Notes - July 2001