Wildcraft Your Holiday

Well, anyone who has met Shane Odom will know that he has an exuberance toward the things he enjoys that is quite contagious.  I already shared my enthusiasm for snowflakes that came from his encouragement last year.   Now I have to share another holiday hobby that I picked up from the same source.

Wildcrafting!

It's incredible how many beautiful holiday decorations with an incredible earthy and magical feel you can make just by going for a walk in the woods and bringing home fallen and dried bits.  And even if you don't have a forest nearby in which to walk, you can still wildcraft at this time of year, as you'll see.

A wreath is the easiest thing to wildcraft.  First you start with a grapevine or other pliable branch base, either bought from the store, or made from vine around your home. 

Now comes the most fun part.  Adding to this, you can of course create a base layer of evergreen / pine, but there are so many other options as well.

Honeysuckle....

Wild rose hips:

And of course English ivy, which won't mind your taking heaps of it for this purpose....it'll just keep growing and growing....

Chinese bittersweet

Also of course there is holly, both with berries and without...

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and Boxwood

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The possibilities are endless!  For instance, the lambs ear in my garden has really gone nuts this year, and earlier at a fall garden show I noticed a vendor selling the dried floral stalks.  Well shoot...I loved how they looked so pale and snow-laden, and I didn't even think to save mine!  Next year....

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And then a quick Google search, sure enough, showed an incredible pale wreath made from Lamb's Ear...though I suspect it's rather delicate and better used for an inside wildcrafted wreath.

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So there you have it....stick wild branches in, step back, and enjoy!

Or, as Shane does and I would love to try sometime, hang a wreath on a friend or neighbor's doorknob anonymously as a winter gift.

Bear in mind also that wildcrafting is not reserved to wreaths only.  Last year and this year I've created green arrangements for my holiday porch using items gathered from a winter walk in a favorite park.  Anything that looked beautiful and that wouldn't be disturbed by taking (ex: fallen branches or naturally dried wildflowers) was game.  (of course be careful not to take anything poisonous...educate yourself)

Oh, and as I mentioned earlier, you can totally do this in a suburban environment too...I got most of my greenery this year from Home Depot...they have a bin into which they discard their extra cut branches from their sold trees, and they are free for the taking.  Add to that a few branches from a tree in your yard or your neighbor's, some dried items from your garden no matter how big or small....

Here are two more resources for inspiration...this gorgeous Facebook album of wreaths made from a variety of natural materials.

And this slideshow showing a variety of ways to use greenery in your decorating inside and outside.

Advanced warning though...this hobby is habit-forming.  It's so fun to create beauty from the sparse wild items found in winter, you'll find yourself constantly searching for more bits to take for your arrangements, and more places to display bits of greenery.

Many thanks to Shane for allowing me to use his photos for this post.

Domythic Domestic Holidays

Ah, Christmas.  My favorite holiday of the year...no matter how you celebrate it, it seems nearly impossible to escape a touch of magic and Domythicity in your holiday.  Glowing lights, bringing nature indoors, all elements of Domythic living year-round, and it's everywhere during this time of year. 

So here's a celebration of Domythic Christmas decor...images found scattered on the internet that especially seem to embody this fairy tale quality.

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I love the idea of a pair of vessels to either side of the front door, laden with greenery.  I stole this idea and tried something similar on my front porch this year.

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 The same idea works inside as well.

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 Such a sweet idea for a dress form!  If I didn't have a cat who would eat half of the skirt, I'd be tempted to try this at home as well.

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 A gorgeous image of winter in Russia.

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There's an incredible project being shared on Facebook by the phenomenal artist Tony DiTerlizzi.  He's working on a large-scale installation for a holiday store window, and wow...this is a sketch of the finished project plan.

via Tony DiTerlizzi's Facebook

 How about a butterfly tree?

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I'm charmed also by the idea of chandelier decoration using greenery and ornaments.  Sadly, real greenery used long-term throughout the season is annoyingly difficult to clean off the table (at least my table) as it sheds....I do want to try this again sometime though with faux greenery.

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 How would you like a gingerbread dragon?

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A beautiful kissing ball made of book pages.

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A gingerbread Baba Yaga hut?  Most awesome thing I've seen lately.

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 I own this bowl, and oh do I ever love it.  It's perfect for the holidays.

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Another beautiful front porch, including Colonial fruit details.

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If you have room, why not bring the whole sleigh into your entry?

What a stunning photo!

Once again, greenery above the table.  I love the oversized ornaments too, though they wouldn't work in every home.

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A gingerbread home draped in lights.

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So many ideas, so little time!

Gruß vom Krampus!

I love Krampus.

I've been a fan of his for about eight years now, ever since I first heard of this Alpine demon who visits children side by side with St. Nicholas in order to punish bad children.  The punishment?  A night in hell's tortures.  His weapons?  A bundle of twig switches, and a basket on his back into which he will stuff the rebellious children.

"How awful!" you  might think to yourself.  But here's the important part, demonstrated wonderfully by my favorite classic Krampus illustration below....

Krampus doesn't punish all children: he only punishes the bad, spoiled, rebellious, rotten ones.  And he brings them back, honest...he just scares them enough to put them on the straight and narrow path.  The little boy above might be stuffed into the basket, but the good little girl gets a basket of apples to enjoy. 

The folklore of Krampus is far more potent than the risk of a few lumps of coal and missing presents, and he has recently been enjoying a resurgence in popularity, as parents lament their childrens' increasing dissatisfaction with anything but the best and latest and most expensive of gifts.  Now, in several cities across America as well as the traditional Europe, you can find costumed revelers engaging in Krampuslauf, or parades of Krampuses (Krampusi?  Not sure of the plural).  And of course most often this is done today, December 5th, the evening of Krampusnacht, the night before the Feast of St. Nicholas on December 6th.

Whereas a few years ago, a search on Ebay, Etsy, or Google for Krampus would only bring up a handful of antique postcards and one or two handmade items, now there are pages and pages of results on Etsy.  However, a lot of people seem to fixate on Krampus as a terrifying devil: they miss seeing the fey-like whimsy of his role in traditional Alpine Christmas alongside St. Nick.  My favorite representations of Krampus are those that get the classical subtlety right, and I want to share a few of my favorites here.

I love how this one shows the duality of Santa and Krampus.  Both reading from the same list, both with their sacks for separate purposes.

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I couldn't find a good origin link for this image, but it looks like chocolate figures of St. Nick and Krampus.  Hilarious!

Once again, the two exist as a partnership, to assist in the betterment of children.

 Now for merchandise! 

I love this candle on Etsy, but I really love the design of Krampus on it.  As a silhouette-cutting enthusiast (link), this tempts me to make a Christmas silhouette of Krampus like this, with a matching Santa.

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I love this Amigurumi doll...what a combination of cute and a little twisted...

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Love the detail of the shell for this miniature Krampus with the child inside.

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This is an embroidered design for a tea towel :)

 

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And of course there's Brom's new fiction novel just released featuring Krampus.

 I thought recently of what a marvelous thing it would be if someone made a Topsy-Turvy doll of Krampus and St. Nick.  Well...someone did!

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A gorgeous pitcher was recently on Ebay:

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Missmonster is the queen of Krampus.  The rest of these images are from her imagination. 

I should note...there are a few charming Krampus items available for purchase, namely a sweater and Christmas stocking, that I did not include here because there is some controversy about whether they used Missmonster's art without crediting or compensating her.  As a proponent of small businesses and artists, I didn't choose to share those here.

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