‘Tis the season to be jolly – and to decorate home and hearth. Trees, lights, swags, a big wreath for the door, but you still want to buy presents, and it all costs money.  Hard to be jolly when you feel like you are “poor.”  But listen – you are not poor!  You are surrounded by a rich and bountiful earth!

Spend Less – Enjoy More

I never have had much money to use on “frivolous” decorations. I was a nearly penniless student for many years as I pursued my academic degrees, and afterwards? Let’s face it – Botany is not a profession with many (or any?) six figure jobs. Anyway, with money tight all my life, I have some tips to help you spend less on decorating and enjoy the holiday season more.

You don’t have to be thrifty to use these tips. Bring the natural world indoors and enjoy the season. The satisfaction of making your own decorations can’t be beat. It is wonderful to step back and see a home loaded with holiday cheer, and know you did it yourself. It is even better if you have kids and encourage them to help. The decorations don’t have to be fancy, and you don’t even need a hot glue gun (although it couldn’t hurt).

Bring in Some Fragrance

Don’t use those artificial scents that can disrupt your hormones.  Mother Nature has many naturally fragrant plants.  Fill a vase with evergreen boughs. Prune your own evergreens, or volunteer to do those of a neighbor. Pines are great holiday decorations, as are the trees and shrubs commonly called cypress, cedar and juniper. All will last a week or two in a vase. And rosemary – don’t forget to prune your rosemary and use it!

You may also be able to get free greens from places that sell cut Christmas trees. They typically trim off the bottoms, and some of those branches can be used. I use the fallen pine and spruce needles as mulch in the back yard. It’s not a good idea to do this in the front yard where a careless neighbor may toss a cigarette into pine mulch. Those fragrant needles are full of oils and resins that will catch on fire very easily.

Get creative! Greens do not have to go in a vase. Form your clipped greens into a wreath, swag over the mantelpiece, or a long garland for the wall. Wire evergreen together with fine green floral wire from the crafts store. These formed greens can be decorated in many ways.

Decorate Your Greens

Decorate wreaths and swags with the bright reddish berries off pyracantha or nandina (heavenly bamboo). It doesn’t have to be green and red. Try some silvery tan seed pods from Texas mountain laurel, or pine cones, senna pods, even supermarket mixed nuts look lovely decorating a wreath (which is where you might need the glue gun).

Technically, any plant that does not drop its leaves is an evergreen. They may not be in the pine group either. Rosemary is evergreen, and it is related to mint. Citrus trees are evergreen, and make lovely additions to indoor arrangements. Pyracantha, heavenly bamboo, and Texas mountain laurel are all evergreen. If you have a large space, leaves of palm trees look great. All will last a week or more in a vase.

Celebrate the Southwest

A number of desert succulents like agave, yucca, bear brass and hesperaloe produce tall stalks of pods that make lovely decorations. The stalks themselves make very Southwest sort of “trees.” but the pods can be used as well. Yucca pods can be formed into angels, but you will need a glue gun, and that would be an entirely different post.

Botany Nerd Interjects

Agave, yucca, hesperaloe, bear grass, desert spoon – technically these are termed desert monocot shrubs. Monocots have less showy flowers than dicots. Monocots include grasses, corn, wheat, palms, and even asparagus.

Okay – (insert eye roll emoji) technically they are termed monocotyledons and dicotyledons. These terms refer to how may leaves a flowering plant has when they first emerge from their seed. Monocots have one seed leaf. Dicots have two seed leaves. A plant nerd can tell a great deal about how a plant will grow based on whether they are a monocot or a dicot.

Desert Pods

Speaking of using agave and yucca pods, if you have a desert milkweed in your yard, the dried flower pods make perfect Santa faces. All you need is a little paint. Lack desert milkweed? Dried okra pods work just as well.

House Already Full of Plants?

If your home is full of plants you are protecting from the cold outside, you can include them! (My article on Winter Protection for Tender Plants) I find old holiday table cloths at thrift stores. Wrap the plant pots with this festive cloth. Tuck any stains out of sight as you wrap.

You can also decorate houseplants with old Christmas cards taped together around their pot.  Add a stick with a festive bow on top!  (I used chopsticks).  This has an added benefit.  If you forgot a gift for someone – this is all ready for gifting!  No one expects you to wrap up a living plant.

Take A Walk

Go out for a walk and see what wild plants you find. Spray a little gold or silver paint on seed pods and dried flower heads. Or dip them in diluted white glue and roll them in glitter. Messy but fun, this is easily done outdoors in our climate, where the glitter doesn’t get tracked into the carpet.

Find some coyote melons (Cucurbita palmata) out in the desert. Actually a thin-skinned gourd, they are dried and ready to use now. You may have to rub off some of the waxy coating with a scrubby sponge. They make perfect spherical ornaments, and can be painted in festive colors. Youngsters can easily decorate them. Grandparents (and aunts!) especially treasure such handmade gifts. Make sure you sign your art and include the year made.

Higher Elevation Hike?

Pine cones are fun. Brush them with white glue on a foam brush and roll them in soap flakes. It looks like snow! Add some white or silver glitter to the soap, and it looks even better. You could also spray with gold or silver and cover in gobs of glitter.

Popcorn Chains

I mentioned this trick a few years ago (Decorate With Greens). Want to kick back and watch a favorite holiday movie? * Let your hands work while you do and string cranberries and popcorn. Use green or cinnamon dental floss and a darning needle. Put the needle through the “star” at one end of the cranberry. Hang them inside. After the holidays, put them outdoors and let the birds recycle them for you.

Yule Log

Yule logs are a British Isles tradition. They are often used instead of a holiday tree. Make it a Southwest Yule Log with a nice mesquite log!  Use a drill to bore several holes for candles. Decorate with evergreens and bows. Sprinkle with glitter, which will stick in bark crevices.

If you want to be traditional, the Yule log is burned on Epiphany, January 6th, or in an older tradition, on the Winter Solstice, December 21st.  For safety sake, remove your evergreens before you light your Yule log! Evergreens are full of highly volatile oils and can cause a house fire.

Celebrate The Season

‘Tis the season to celebrate the gifts that have come into our lives. What better way to appreciate the glory of Nature that surrounds us than to bring it into our homes and make it part of the celebration?

P. S. Christmas Movies

My take on Christmas movies. If – in the movie – it happens near Christmas, and there are Christmas decorations, and the hero’s life is rearranged by Christmas, and the hero mutters “Come to LA for Christmas she said. It will be fun she said.” Then in fact it could be considered a Christmas movie. Feel free to share your view on this topic! (comment area way at the bottom on the page)

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