COUNTRY CHRISTMAS
These were sent to me by a friend.
MILKWEED POD POINSETTIAS
If you live in an area where milkweed grows wild, you can use the dried milkweed pods to make poinsettia ornaments for your Christmas tree. Here's how:
Collect some dried milkweed pods. In the fall, the milkweed plants have already gone to seed but the dried pods will still be attached to the plant. You will need six "halves" of a milkweed pod for each poinsettia flower that you are going to make.
After you have collected the milkweed pods and have brought them into the house, put them in a warm spot for a few days or a week to dry out more. This is especially important if it has been rainy and damp outside.
Glue the milkweed pod halves together side-by-side in a circle so that they look like a flower. A hot glue gun works well for gluing the pods together.
Decorate your poinsettia flowers with spray paint and glitter, or, if you don't want to spray paint your poinsettias, just use glue and glitter. Mix and match and experiment with colors.
Glue a loop of string, yarn, twine or ribbon to the back of the poinsettia flower. Once the glue is dry, your ornament is ready to hang on the Christmas tree.
HOLIDAY TIDBITS: DECORATING TOUCHES
Put up an old fashioned Christmas kitchen tree. It was done during the 1800's in country homes. Use a tree that is considered
"scrub", a pine of a smaller size works great. If you
don't have one, use a small
artificial
tree in it's place as an alternative. Place the tree in the
kitchen
or an entry way and decorate it with nuts, strung popcorn and
cranberries, cornstalk bows or other cornstalk decorations,
fruits, berries, pinecones and raffia. Keep it natural and
rustic!
Consider a homemade tin star for a topper. This is such a
great family project to collect the decorations and put it
together.
Porches are so much fun to decorate. Use empty clay pots,
baskets, buckets etc. and fill them with pinecones, branches,
twigs with berries attached, teasel heads, nuts etc. Hang an
old, rusty snow shovel or pitchfork and decorate it with a bunch
of pine stems and berry twigs tied with ribbon. Have a
"treasure"
hunt with the kids to find other things you can use!
A really neat idea that reminds me of a Southern home during
the holidays, is decorating with fresh moss and magnolia leaves.
You can use ornaments or go with fruit such as pomegranates
and persimmons alone or combined with gold ornaments.
VICTORIAN TOUCH
Gilding natural items is something that was popular in Victorian
times and can be done very easily today. You can use seedpods,
branches or foliage of magnolia, pine, fir, juniper, boxwood,
oak
or palm. Spray your items with one or two light coats of gold
spray
paint. An empty cardboard box works great for a workspace. Wear
rubber gloves or jersey gloves if you wish (they are cheap) and
hold your item with one hand inside the box so it's not touching
the sides. Rotate it while spraying with your other hand until
it's
covered evenly. You don't want to spray a heavy coat--keep it
very light for a pretty effect. When they are dry place them in
baskets, on mantles, in wreathes etc.
