Christmas Crafts at Holiday Lights

Holiday Lights is in full swing at the Garden, and it really is a fun event-- for guests as well as staff. I enjoy walking through the Garden and overhearing the appreciative comments and exclamations from visitors as they enjoy a lovely evening with family and friends. Beautiful lights, great music and entertainment, tasty hot chocolate, and jolly old Saint Nick himself... and much more-- it's all here!

There is one little corner of the Garden where I spend a lot of time, and that is the Christmas Crafts table in the Visitor Pavilion. We provide a nature-based holiday craft each night, which changes from week to week. So far, we have made Christmas Mice from pinecones, Nature Baskets that can be displayed on a table or hung on the tree as an ornament, and Nature Bags (sachets) that will fragrance a room. Still to come-- Pomanders and Glittered Pinecones.

The Nature Baskets and Nature Bags, in particular, would be easy to do at home as well. Take a few minutes to go outside with your kids and look around. Collect small treasures that you find-- a few small pinecones, sweetgum balls, a bit of moss, an interesting pod... all of these can become unique treasures in the eyes of a child. Back inside, take a small basket (app. 2-4 inches wide) and work together to arrange the treasures in the basket. Add a dash of color and sparkle, if you wish, by tucking in a small ornament or a bit of ribbon, and you're done! Set the basket on a table, or hang it on the tree. A larger basket can become a centerpiece or mantel decor.

Nature Bags (an updated and kid-friendly name for a sachet) are also easy. You can search outside for nature treasures, as described above, and tuck them in a small muslin bag or wrap them up hobo-style in a scrap of fabric and tie closed with a ribbon. At the Garden we use muslin tea bags, which are perfectly sized for a small sachet, and add fragrance with a few drops of essential oils that can be purchased at any craft store. We make use of cones, pods, and bits of greenery collected from around the Garden, and add ingredients like lavendar, cinnamon chips, allspice berries, cloves, and rose petals. The bowls filled with all the different ingredients are beautiful, and showcase the diversity of textures, colors, and fragrances from nature.

Though sachets are an old-fashioned craft, kids love making them and enjoy sorting through all the different ingredients to create just the right mix for their very own creation. Adults love making them, too. The craft corner is open to anyone who wants to participate. From the youngest toddler working with help from their parents to the most experienced senior, everyone has a small memento of their evening at the Garden to take with them that they made themselves. What a treat!

All in all, nature crafts are perfect for the holidays. Take a few minutes with your family to go outside and gather some treasures from your yard. Or, if you're in the area, come visit the Garden and enjoy making a nature-based Christmas Craft together and have a lovely evening of Holiday Lights with your family and friends. See you here!

Holiday Lights at the Garden Opens

Holiday Lights at the Garden opened this past weekend with record numbers. It was our busiest open ever promising a busy holiday season at the Garden.

Continuing until Thursday, Dec. 31 these spectacular evenings will include displays with more than 600,000 lights, old fashioned trains, carriage rides, holiday carols, baked treats and other activities designed to fill the holiday season with memories that will last a lifetime.

Beginning at the Garden’s grand entrance on New Hope Road guests are immediately immersed to a Christmas wonderland as they travel past the still Garden ponds and make their way into the Visitor Pavilion, where they are greeted by white trumpeting angels, decorated in holiday splendor and sounds. The décor includes a guest favorite, a spectacular 16-foot-tall Orchid tree, featuring more than 300 orchids.

In the Garden guests are invited to enjoy a walking tour through a dazzling light display encompassing six separate gardens, The Orchid Conservatory and surrounding landscape that presents spectacular light displays at every turn. Guests can walk through a grand 30-foot tall tree of lights, visit the icy White Garden or the festive Canal Garden. A captivating display of lights engulfs guests in every direction.

The Orchid Conservatory offers a chance to warm up, and see two garden-scale trains snaking through the tropical plants and holiday favorites.

Carriage rides through a portion of the display are available Thursday through Sunday evenings for an additional fee.

Please see our web site http://www.dsbg.org/ for the latest information.