With the holiday season around the bend, Christmas decorations are front and center. This year, there has been a trend towards decorating with more natural elements rather than glitz and glamour. The best part? With the right resources (whether from a shop or your own backyard), you can make all these Christmas decorations yourself! Read on for a few ideas for how to get on board with festive natural decor.
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A Natural Wreath
You can pick up a wreath almost everywhere during the holidays, but this Christmas, why not get creative and craft your own? You can keep it simple by using just evergreen boughs or holly, or add some flair with your choosing of ferns, berries, pine cones, flowers and more. Here, photographer and stylist Elise Dumas heavily incorporated orchids to add an extravagant touch to her natural wreath. For a step-by-step process on how to replicate this exact one, check out the Nov/Dec 20 issue of MFCH Magazine.
Natural Wax Palets
A fun and beautiful alternative to candles and other home fragrances are botanical wax pallets. Wick, soot and drip-free, they take the worry about open flames away and subtly perfume any room they hang in, whether it be your closet or your kitchen. As much a treat for the eyes as they are for the nose, the options and designs for wax pallets โ which can include everything from rosebuds to cedar chips to lavender sprigs to orange blossoms, as are the options at the beautiful Carriรจre Frรจres โ are endless.
Our upcoming Jan/Feb 21 issue of MFCH Magazine teaches you how to make your own botanical beauties โ subscribe here!
Olive Branch Stars
Nothing says Christmas like a few stars, and all the more beautiful if they’re natural! This idyllic home in Grasse, Provence was featured in the Nov/Dec 20 issue of MFCH Magazine. An area well-known for its vast stretches of olive trees, the natural materials used to craft these festive olive branch stars were found, quite literally, at its doorstep. They’re fun, easy to make and will bring an air of France to your Christmas decorations. If you’re not lucky enough to live next to an olive tree field, head to your local gardening store to see if you can snag some branches.
Foliage on the Mantelpiece
Tastefully laid by our own Editor-in-Chief, Sharon Santoni, this natural tablescape was this season’s the cover star of MFCH Magazine‘s holiday issue, and the foliage on the mantelpiece takes the cake. You don’t have to be fussy when creating this type of natural decor โ you can use whatever greenery you have available to you, whether from a store or your own yard. This is the perfect natural Christmas decoration to glow above the flickering light of the cozy fire. Don’t forget to add a few pine cones for the finishing touch.
Baked Fruit Decorations
Natural decor that’s good enough to eat. Inexpensive and incredibly easy to make, baked fruit is a wonderful and creative Christmas decoration for your home, as well as a great gift idea (the recipients will appreciate the thoughtful homemade factor!).
The process is simple: slice fruit of your liking โ apples, oranges, lemons and grapefruits work well for this โ and bake for two to three hours on a low heat until dry and firm (but not blackened). Then let cool, display in a bowl or on a countertop, arrange in a wreath or add ribbons and hang!