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HAVE YOURSELF AN EXTRA CRISPY CHRISTMAS

Kentucky Fried Chicken Christmas Bucket

While I have never been very interested in the consumerist side to Christmas, as I get older I’ve rediscovered a great deal of joy in the celebrating the winter solstice. The act of making decorations, particularly with family or friends, brings a sense of warmth and meaning. I thought I might share some of the things I do throughout the month leading up to the solstice (with unaffiliated links to tutorials if you’d like to give it a try). The ephemeral, often foraged nature of these decorations encourages attention and presence in the moment, and requires little in the way of resources.

A garland of dried orange slices, star anise (bought in a ludicrously large bag from an international grocery store), clove, and cinnamon sticks, strung together with plain baker’s twine. Dehydrating orange slices in the oven has the added benefit of making your home smell wonderful. I have made a garland of cranberries in the past but it’s a sticky, staining business that requires a fine needle and thread and gentle handling.

Alternatively, use small cookie cutters to make simple shapes of discarded orange peel if you rather not waste the food.

A minimalist tree - Lowes and other garden centers/pop up tree farms often put cut offs in a bin that you can take from for free. A single branch with the right amount of foliage in a vase makes a lovely minimalist tree - especially decorated with $3 fairy/wire lights from Aldi’s or Target. Very good for apartment living.

That same bin at Lowes is where I collect cut offs to make live garlands or wreaths. This requires floral wire (~$3) for best results, and available floor space to assemble.

Scrap fabric garland - especially useful if you have a lot of “cabbage” left over that you don’t know what to do with. We made this for the first time this year and it was an exercise in “letting go” for me. I prefer precision, but my coven mate Has Absolutely No Time for That. Rather than try to direct things, she ripped strips of fabric and I tied them to a length of baker’s twine in random alternating colors (the “tedious” job in her opinion). It turned out much nicer this way by playing to each other’s strengths. I recommend it.

Salt dough ornaments. I haven’t had luck getting these to store successfully year to year so I’ve consigned myself to making them anew each time. The upshot is that salt dough has a great deal of versatility so I can try something new every year.

One year I did also accidentally make a brick-hard batch of Lebkuchen that, while lovely to look at, where utterly inedible. They made lovely gingerbread ornaments, though; I may do it on purpose this year.

CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

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