Sweet Little Foraged Christmas Decorations
Today I learned that you can make lovely Christmas decorations from foraged items.
These stars are made from foraged plant material that was picked in late autumn, during a walk in the country-side.
Each one is made from the outer seed pod of the milkweed plant, dried aster flower heads, millet seeds and pine cones.
They are held together by hot glue and include a hanging loop that is made out of thick thread.
On the back, they are decorated with a single aster flower head. This is concealing where the milkweed pods are glued together in the centre.
Depending on the size of the milkweed seed pods, you can make a 5 point star, 6 point star or 8 point star.
I think some of the most beautiful gifts to give or receive are ones made with our hands and given with our hearts.
I welcome your comments and I invite you to follow me on my journey.
~Rebecca Ryan
These are lovely!! Shared in fb ;)
Thanks @immarojas!
I think they are so sweet...but in a rustic way. Not too feminine nor too masculine.
They are! I used to pick cones to use before. Ive seen stuff like these being sold at ridiculous prices in london.
Wow!!! Except for the aster flower heads, everything else can just be picked up on the side of the road, field or park. I guess in a city, there isn't much plant material that people would think to or want to pick-up and stuff in their pockets.
Those stuff sell a lot am telling you..esp in high-end home decors. Sold by piece. I suppose in the country-side, it might not be appreciated much compared to the city where theyre not available.
Much real and natural. Prefer those anytime..reminds me of home ;)
It would be perceived as exotic, I suppose.
Not me, the possum mentality in the outdoors community is strong! You should see some of the stuff I have used to add to my fire kits or emergency preps.
#KitRedundancies !!
Yes, I can understand that @barrydutton. lol
All these items are incredible dry. They would make good fire starting material.
Pine cones and pine sap/resin is super useful to make glue out of, it is highly flammable as a fire starter/accelerant and can be used for its antiseptic, astringent, anti-inflammatory properties, and more. You may know that due to your business and interests.
Thanks for adding this valuable info Barry!
We severely underestimate the value of what we have...especially just laying around us in nature.
Yes, I am known for my ointments and lineaments. :)
I posted some of the other uses for these things here in my replies to this post if you are curious. I live about an hour or so W. of Rebecca. So we sort of live in the same area as far as plants/trees go.
That's really good. I have never seen that done before!
Thanks @knarly327!
They're gorgeous! You're so creative.
Thanks @kiwideb!
It was my girlfriend's idea so I can't take credit for the original idea to use the milkweed pods. I like how they look and I think they'd be great to put over the neck of a wine bottle to give as a hostess gift. Next year I'm going to save lots of milkweed pods.
Do you have milkweed or something similar where you are?
Not that I know of. But I should keep my eyes open for possibilities.
They've got some thickness to them like a pea pod does. When they dry, they do become hard and brittle.
oo. very creative. very Wicca
It was a friend's idea. She is very spiritual and does use a lot of plant and animal totem medicine in her day to day life. These pieces have her loving intentions all the way through them.
Those are beautiful. I love it was foraged.
Well, I cannot lie, most of that stuff in my bushcraft life you just did artsy stuff with makes great tinder when you are out in the bush and want to get a fire going LOL.
Great post as usual RR.
Thanks @barrydutton.
I think most found items in nature are multi-purpose and that's a very beautiful thing.
You are so gifted. Who knew recycling Mother Nature's odds and ends could look so beautiful.
Thank you @pitterpatter. It was my girlfriend's idea, so I cannot take credit for the creative idea. I can tell you that I will be making a point to forage and save more of these items next year. I'd like to make a whole wreath out of the milkweed pods.
Those are so nice! They really make good ornaments! A milkweed post wreath sounds great. Each of these is an opportunity to let people know about the importance of milkweeds for Monarch butterflies, too!
@haphazard-hstead, I really wanted to share these pictures with you too. It is the biggest flock I have ever seen.
https://steemit.com/nature/@rebeccaryan/will-trade-moose-for-turkey
It didn't get that many views because I used 5 tags instead of 4. (I didn't realize that there was a glitch to the tag component.)
I hope you like it. :)
Thanks a bunch! That is a neat post with all those turkeys. I liked the red border around your pictures, too!
Thank you. I'm still learning how I can make my posts a little better and easier on the eyes to read.
Thank you @haphazard-hstead! I was thinking of you when I made this post and hoped you'd see it. These little decorations really are sweet. I plain to stock pile milkweek pods next fall, once the plants have gone to seed, of course. It's a whole new world of organic folk art for me. :)
Aren't plants just the best! Those milkweeds are perennials, so they will be there waiting for you next year, to use in your art. How great is that! :D
Yes! That's incredible! I didn't realize that milkweed is a perennial. Very cool.
Sorry to miss your great post earlier. There was a big ice storm in the vicinity of the @foraging-trail. It's taken awhile to clean up!
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Thank you for recognizing it. I wish you all the best contending with the clean-up post ice-storm. I hope you didn't loose too many trees.