Decorating for the Season

My girl wanted to do the decorating this year. So she went to work making snowflakes to decorate our windows. She has become quite the master at it.

She didn't use a template or anything just snipped a little here and there until she had a bunch of beautiful snowflakes. i did have to help with the folding, but she did all the cutting herself. 

Back in November i came across a picture from this blog and completely fell in love with the winter scene she had created on a window and knew i wanted to do something similar!  My girl made all the snowflakes, and i cut the trees and stars out of cardstock.  The orginial photo had a branch wrapped in lights, but after several small hikes aroundthe property i couldn't find what i wanted. So my window looked rather plain for a couple weeks.

i eventually found a branch that i liked, although not quite long enough it still worked okay. Once the window was totally lit up i feel completely in love with it.  This will be a new tradition for us. Next year i may add the silhouettes of a few woodland creatures, but i love the simplity of this design. It feels peaceful and quiet and respresents the things that i really do love about the winter.  

He who marvels at the beauty of the world in summer will find equal cause for wonder and admiration in winter.... In winter the stars seem to have rekindled their fires, the moon achieves a fuller triumph, and the heavens wear a look of a more exalted simplicity. ~John Burroughs

Digging the Yule tree

Digging the Yule tree is one of my favorite holiday traditions.  We always have a live 'potted' tree that we replant after the new year.  Some trees we are able to dig up year after year until they get too big to dig.  Bringing them in the house to decorate is like welcoming  back an old friend that only visits once a year.

The year that we dug last year, has been struggling to take root. It's still alive, but struggling a bit and i think if we had redug it it would probably die. So we chose to dig a new tree this year.  

We headed over to Deberosa Tree farm, where all the trees were $10 each and they allowed us to dig one.  Most of the trees were very large, and we wandered around for quite a while before deciding on our perfect tree. 

All over the tree farm we found praying mantis egg cases. Some had already hatched out, but many were new and would not hatch until the spring.  Although with our unseasonable warm winter, i wouldn't be surprised if they hatch early.  This little case can contain hundreds of baby praying mantis that all hatch out at once. 

We were very happy with our tree, loaded it up and headed home.

The kids did all the decorating this year. i never did get around to making any gingerbread ornaments, so it looked a little bare this year.

No one seemed to mind though, and we all thought it looked beautiful.  Our decorations are all pretty simple. Glass balls in blue and silver, handblown glass icicles,pine cones decoratd in glitter, acorn shaded bells, and silver butterflies.  i also added some dried citrus slices and typically decorate it in gingerbread as well.

 Yule trees are brought inside to provide a warm and festive place for tree elementals who inhabited the woodland. They are also a good way to coax the native faery folk to participate in Solstice rituals.  :) The greenery of the yule tree is symbolic of the hope for the sun's return.

i embrace these traditons and rituals as a way to stay positive during the hard of winter. Celebrating the season, gives us hope and helps us to recognize the beauty in all seasons. 

The winter solstice has always been special to me as a barren darkness that gives birth to a verdant future beyond imagination, a time of pain and withdrawal that produces something joyfully inconceivable, like a monarch butterfly masterfully extracting itself from the confines of its cocoon, bursting forth into unexpected glory.

Gary Zukav