This blog post and accompanying video was prompted by a Patreon request and question; how do we prepare for the Yuletide holiday season (herbally speaking)? I loved this question so much that it has sparked a series of videos and posts. The first one is on Winter Holiday Cordials and you can find the post here and the video here.
If you are a steady watcher/reader of my content, I would be honoured if you would explore my Patreon tiers. The work I’m doing couldn’t be completed without their support.
While I am a herbalist by profession, the love of herbs runs deep in my veins. As a self proclaimed herb nerd, I try to find way to incorporate them into all aspects of my daily life. The celebration of the winter holidays is no exception! One of my favourite ways to add herbs to our Yuletide celebrations is through holiday ornaments and decorations.
So today I will be sharing this beautiful craft with you today. This makes a wonderful homeschool activity, perfect handmade gifts for those you care about and a wonderful way to add some magic and herbal connection to your life.
I will be sharing with you the exact herbs, gemstones and other trinkets that we added to our decorations, but feel free to let inspiration take you to new corners. If you don’t resonate with gemstones or planetary/astrological/elemental associations I am sharing with you, then feel free to skip over these parts. There is absolutely nothing wrong with creating something for the pure joy of making something beautiful.
What You’ll Need
For each ornament I chose a category (peace, love, luck/prosperity and protection). I then researched herbal, gemstone, elemental and planetary associations with each of those overriding themes.
- Clear glass or plastic ornaments
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- May I humbly suggestion that if you have children and/or pets that plastic might be the way to go here
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- A selection of dried herbs (specifics below)\
Optional
- Herbal Salts
- Gemstones
- Chips or beads work well
- Branches, barks, twigs
- Charms
- Twine
Peace Inspired Herbal Decoration
- Colour: Blue
- Element: Water
- Planetary: Venus
As a base for our peace decoration I created a blue salt by grinding white sea salt, lavender blossoms and a single drop of blue food colouring. As salts are heavy I made them the base of each of our ornaments.
We then added layers in the following order:
- Amethyst gemstone chips
- Elderberries
- Hibiscus
We finished off our ornament by adding in apple twigs, a sprig of lavender and some whole Dittany of Crete. Around the outside of the ornament we used twine to attach the charm of our choice.
Love Inspired Herbal Decoration
- Colour: Red/Pink
- Element: Fire
- Planetary: Venus
For the salt layer I ground hibiscus flowers with pink Himalayan sea salt. There was no need for colouring due to the vibrancy of the hibiscus. I then added a single drop of jasmine essential oil.
We then added layers in the following order:
- Rose quartz beads and crystal quartz chips
- Allspice (whole)
- Rose petals
We finished off the decoration by adding a bay leaf, a few sprigs of cedar needles and two cinnamon sticks (they were too long so I cut a single cinnamon stick in half using my pruning shears). I had a beautiful heart pendent that I haven’t worn in years which made the perfect adornment for this ornament.
Luck/Prosperity Inspired Herbal Decoration
- Colour: Green
- Element: Earth
- Planetary: Jupiter
For this salt layer I once again used white table salt. Instead of using food colouring (which is an option), I blended it with a touch of spiralina which was enough to give it a nice green colour. I then added a drop of cinnamon essential oil.
We then added layers in the following order:
- Citrine gemstone chips
- Cloves (whole)
- Dried marigold flowers
Finally we added in some whole garden sage and hung a celtic knot charm on the outside.
Protection Inspired Herbal Decoration
- Colour: Black
- Element: Earth
- Planetary: Saturn
For this herbal salt, I went with a traditional black salt recipe. White table salt blended with wood ash from our fireplace and a touch of activated charcoal to give it a nice rich black colour. Finally I added a drop or two of rosemary essential oil.
We then added layers in the following order:
- Obsidian gemstone chips (Onyx would work as well)
- Juniper berries
- Mugwort
We finished off the decoration by adding in some sprigs of cedar, pine needles and thin slices of birch bark, trying my best to twirl it. We adorned this ornament with a pentacle, but you can choose any symbol that represents protection to you!
Thanks so much for joining me on this blog post today. I hope this inspires you to create your own herbal winter holiday ornaments as well. Remember to use what you have, what sparks joys and resonates with you and your particular beliefs and feelings about this time of year.
If you enjoy watching video content you can check out my YouTube video on the same subject:
In good health,
Regular Readers/Watchers
If you are a regular reader of this blog or viewer of Spiraea’s content on YouTube, I would be honoured if you took at peek at my Patreon site. Patreon is a crowd-funding site where folks can show their gratitude for the free content that creators like me produce. My currently Patreon family has been so amazing and supportive. They are the only reason I can continue to put out free video content on my YouTube channel and write blog posts right here. I have immense gratitude for them and would be thrilled if you joined us.
