Years ago, back when my kids were teens, I penned a piece for this magazine about a tradition my family had every year just after Thanksgiving. Before we’d even set foot out the door to search for a Christmas tree, we’d bundle up, arm ourselves with thermoses full of hot chocolate, plus a few pairs of clippers and giant canvas tote bags, and trod out together into the wooded backyard in Wellesley.
As a team, we’d search out pieces of nature that could be turned into festive Christmas decorations—pine boughs, red berries, birch branches, and anything else that could be wrangled into sculptural decorations. Then, together, we’d make an enormous mess in the kitchen, workshop-style, creating multiple types of decor—indoor and outdoor. For the next month, we’d marvel at our handiwork, as our masterpieces sat in multiple spots around the house: on the mantle, in holiday planters, and on table centers.
Check out some great ideas for creating your own Holiday Christmas decorations, inside and out, with suggestions for types of natural elements to forage for and harvest from outdoors, as well as design and crafting ideas to make your home festive! Celebrate the season using organic materials from the Digital Edition of the Winter 2025/2026 Issue of WellesleyWeston Magazine.
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