Botanical Holiday Garland

Start your own winter tradition!

This holiday season, our Horticulture & Design team, alongside our volunteers, are hand stringing fragrant garlands to decorate the Residence. Create your own warming botanical décor at home using a few simple ingredients: dried oranges, bay laurel, cinnamon sticks, and rosemary.

How to make a botanical garland

You’ll need the following supplies:

Botanicals–dried orange slices, whole bay leaves and/or rosemary sprigs, cinnamon sticks, and whole Chinese star anise pods

Materials–kitchen or garden twine for threading and an embroidery needle or paper clip

Step 1. Gather your bay leaves and/or fresh rosemary springs in a bowl. Select the largest bay leaves if using.

Step 2. If you are using a drill, drill small holes in the middle of each cinnamon stick. You can also just wind and tie the twine around the cinnamon sticks. Drilling takes more time, but the cinnamon stick stays in place more securely.

Step 3. Next, thread all the botanicals together, alternating each element along the length of the twine. It is helpful if you have a large embroidery or yarn needle, but you can always use a paper clip or even a piece of wire.

Step 4. Start with a cinnamon stick, then an orange slice. Then add 8 bay leaves or several sprigs of rosemary or star anise, another orange slice, 8 more bay leaves, and a final orange slice, and repeated this combination until the end.

FAQs

How long will the garland last?

If you store it in a well-sealed plastic bin in a dry place the garland should last a long time, perhaps years. It will lose some of the fragrance and the orange slices may darken but otherwise, it will look great.

How do you keep the bay leaves from breaking?

If you can use fresh ones, that’s best. If you are using dried bay leaves, try soaking the leaves in water for 30 minutes. Then dry them with paper towels. This should help with the brittle nature of dried bay leaves.

Can you use other fruit instead of oranges?

Yes. Dried limes or apple work just as well.

Method is inspired by Hearth & Vine.