How To Forage Your Christmas Decor with Bess Piergrossi

First of all, can you tell us why you prefer foraging for your own Christmas decor rather than purchasing it? 

I didn’t grow up celebrating Christmas extravagantly, it was rather simple, so purchased holiday decor doesn’t hold that much significance to me––there’s not a lot of nostalgia there when I see something like a Santa.  We celebrated the advent and the solstice, which is all about bringing light and warmth into your home during the darkest days of the year, and this tradition has stuck with me the most. It’s also allowed me to have a total blank slate or canvas when it comes to holiday decorating. I’ve gotten to create my own vision of what brings me joy and festivity around the holidays, instead of getting pulled towards the mainstream’s version.

Where is the first place you look to for gathering your foraged items?

After gardening all year long and looking mostly down at the garden beds, the first shift I make when starting to forage for the holidays is to start looking up— into the trees, what shapes and colors do I see that I find interesting. This all starts in the backyard, and then we move into the surrounding forests and forage throughout the woods.

What are some of the best plants to look for when foraging?

It depends on how you’re planning to use them. A plain branch can be a fantastic find– you can place it in a jar or vase, and hang small ornaments or bows on the branches, or sometimes I like to hang a large 8 foot branch above our dining room table. It makes the room feel so cozy –like there are roots above us, like we’re in a burrow. I like that nestled feeling for winter. Evergreens are always a favorite– any type of greenery, whether it be pine, fir, juniper, holly, you name it. A simple bit of greenery is the essence of the holidays. And then there are things that I love to add textural interest– dried flowers, hydrangea tops, seed pods, grasses, thorn branches…. It can really be a vast combination. 

For anyone in a warmer climate, any tips for how they might think about foraging different sort of plants?

I don’t have any experience foraging in a warmer climate, so I’m not too familiar with what’s available this time of year in other parts of the country– but the first thing that comes to mind is fruit— citrus is so special during the holiday season. I’m sure the greenery on any fruit tree, paired with the fruit itself would be such a beautiful thing to add into holiday decor. Similarly, how I mentioned something as simple as decorating with a branch, this could be adopted in any location.

How do you think about putting things together for the most beautiful output? 

It really depends on my mood– and now, with a kid at home, how much clean up I’m willing to undertake. I don’t like to overuse floral wire or make arrangements that are supposed to stand the test of time. Mine are all woven together organically, or held together with thorn bushes (which act like velcro) and a little bit of luck and patience. This means they could come crumbling down in a matter of hours, days, or months– I’ve seen it all. To me it’s more about the process of creating that builds the beauty, and less about what I want it to look like in the end, so I never care too much about how long the decoration lasts. By the time I’m finished, I’ve already scratched my itch of working with my hands and creating beauty, and the end result is always better than if I planned things too intricately. 

Do you like to get your daughter involved in this process now? Why if so? 

This is the first year I think she’ll be truly able to participate in decorating and foraging, and I’m so looking forward to trying to guide her in that way. Last year we just started to dabble in things like an advent calendar, and this year I’m hoping we can do a solstice spiral walk. It’s important for me to try to raise her with that blank canvas that I had during this time of year– while also still creating tradition and memories that we’ll have forever. We’ll see how successful I am at pulling that off. Don’t get me wrong– the first ornament she makes in preschool is going straight to the top of the tree, and I can’t wait to have a little fun with her in that sense and put the turnips and the cookies out for Santa this year.

What do you do with all your foliage after the Holidays for the most sustainable disposal? 

Anything that’s brittle enough to be composted goes right in our compost pile, and anything else that has more wood on it, we save to have a small bonfire. Everything goes back to the earth.

Finally, do you have any other tips you use for keeping the Holidays sustainable at your home?

The only thing I can say is to not have preconceived expectations each year of what your Christmas needs to look like. Some Christmas’s we like to have a bare pine tree in a terracotta pot. Others, we decorate a fir from a local tree farm in old vintage ornaments and multi-colored lights. We don’t store a lot of stuff for the holidays– we have one bin we allocate to all the holiday gear, and the rest of our celebrations and decorations come from outside. It’s really not all about the stuff– not the stuff you have, not the stuff you’re getting— none of that. It’s about creating warmth. Spending time with family. And you don’t need stuff to do that.