A natural garland for the festive season
To mark this year’s festivities, we recommend making a decorative garland – an activity that’s fun for the whole family – using materials gathered from the forest, all held together with a seasonal fir tree branch.
You could take a branch from the back of your Christmas tree, or else ask for one at your local florist.
Your natural garland can then be used to decorate your front door or windowsill, a piece of furniture, or even used as your centrepiece on the Christmas table.
Materials
- A large fir tree branch
- Decorative elements found in nature, such as thistles, dry grasses, lichen-covered branches, red berries, a bunch of ash seeds... or anything else that catches your eye
- Dehydrated orange slices
- A length of rope, depending on your needs (we used 1.2m)
- Some flexible wire thread
- Scissors
- Secateurs, if needed
Steps
You can make dehydrated orange slices yourself, and even supplement them with lemon, lime and blood orange slices too.
Cut thin slices of your citrus fruits and arrange them on an ovenproof rack. Dehydrate them at 80-85°C in a fan-assisted oven for 4 hours. Ideally, pop them in the oven after you’ve been baking or cooking to limit your energy consumption. Dehydration can take place over several days, leaving the slices in the open air on a rack between batches.
Place a small fir tree branch at one end of the rope and attach it with several turns of the wire thread.
Leave a small amount of rope protruding from the end of the garland for a more rustic look.
Without cutting the wire thread, place branches and twigs the full length of the rope, securing them as you go with the wire.
Alternate between different varieties and colours. This is a fun creative activity for the entire family.
Your garland will quickly take shape!
There are two ways to affix your orange slices:
Prepare them separately by creating an attachment with a piece of wire thread twisted back on itself, to fix them to the main garland afterwards.
Or, cut the wire and slide individual slices onto it. Then, start adding the branches and twigs again using a new piece of wire.
It’s up to you!
Continue until you fill the entire length of your rope.
Finish the garland by adding an orange slice so it hides the end of your branches.
