The visitor to HortPark’s Lifestyle Corner this December would have noticed spices are used to make alternative ornaments for the Christmas festive season. Instead of buying ready-made ones from commercial stores, some of us may want to take this opportunity to get everyone at home or in the office to come together to make some unique decorative items. You can also make use of this opportunity to teach your friends and kids where these spices come from and how they are used in flavouring food!
Spicy Christmas trees for the dinner table – all you need to do is to use hot silicone glue and stick various spices of your choice onto polystyrene cones. Seen here are ‘trees’ made from dried rose buds, cloves, cassia sticks, dried bay leaves, nutmeg and chillis!
If you have any faded baubles left over from previous years that are not nice enough for this year’s trees, do not throw them away! Reduce waste and turn them into new ornaments by dressing them up with spices! Shown above is an example of a bauble given a new lease of life after it has put on a new coat made up of star anise!
Another type of hanging ornament for the Christmas tree can be made from just a combination of spices. Shown above is a simple bundle of cassia sticks adorned with star anise and bay leaves which is strung with a golden string so that it can be hung up.
When making Christmas ornaments from spices, it is important to let your creative juices flow. Mix and match various spices to get the desired effect. Cassia sticks are very fragrant. Star anises with their star shape are great for the Christmas season. Dried chillis help to add a burst of red colour. Include also some dried bay leaves for the light green colour. Cloves are good for sticking into polystyrene cones and balls.
Besides looking great and unique, ornaments made from spices exude a delightful fragrance when they are made and displayed immediately. This is especially welcomed if you are using an artificial Christmas tree. These ornaments will last and in the tropics, store them in a air-tight bag with some silicon gel included to help absorb excess humidity after they are taken down after Christmas.
