Ditch the shiny ribbons and plastic baubles this Christmas and get decorating with natural materials!
You can harvest them from your garden for free, personalise each one to the recipient - and best of all, it's sustainable and compostable when Christmas is over.
You can harvest them from your garden for free, personalise each one to the recipient - and best of all, it's sustainable and compostable when Christmas is over.
Start simple : tie some some jute or wind coloured string around your gift, and tuck a sprig of foliage underneath.
Super-quick to do when you're in a hurry! Stems of pine and conifer, woody herbs such as rosemary and lavender, olive, and gum leaves all last out of water and smell good too.
Super-quick to do when you're in a hurry! Stems of pine and conifer, woody herbs such as rosemary and lavender, olive, and gum leaves all last out of water and smell good too.
Add a little string of mini lights, a fancy length of ribbon, a second sprig of berries or pods. Bigger stems for bigger gifts, little sprigs for mini gifts.
If you're crafty, you've got some ribbon or fabric scraps stashed away. It's a great opportunity to use the short lengths up, to make a simple package look super fancy!A fern leaf, a gum leaf, a wax seal. Flower sprigs from statice and paper daisies are longlasting decorations for stylish gifts.
Slice up an orange, lemon, or lime and dry the slices slowly on a baking sheet in a low oven. The slices will add an extra fragrance to your gifts, and can be hung on the tree when the gift is unwrapped.
Raid the kitchen pantry for spices too! Cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves will scent your gifts with a christmassy fragrance.
We love this recyclable advent idea - 24 envelopes for tiny gifts, each one with a leafy sprig. The numbered swing tags can be reused next year, the envelopes recycled, and the foliage composted when all the days are opened
Getting fancier now - these might need a little glue, wire, string, or double-sided tape to keep them in place. Use a mix of shapes - big flat ivy, viburnum, philodendron; feathery rosemary, westringia, and tea tree; cones from banksia, teak pod from crows ash, daintree pine; seedpods from sweetgum, gumnuts, hakea and bottlebrush. Lots of ways to make each one unique!
Thin slices of wood - from a pruned branch or felled tree - can make a very fancy reusable gift decoration. Drill small holes at the sides to thread the string through, and tuck a gum sprig underneath.
There's always something to see and enjoy in a garden, every day of the year.
We hope this has inspired you to take a fresh look at your outdoor space as a source of creative - and sustainable - craft material!
We hope this has inspired you to take a fresh look at your outdoor space as a source of creative - and sustainable - craft material!
