Tag Archives: decorating

December 24, 2025 · 4:39 pm

My yule celebration )O(

Merry meet all,

I have been busy preparing for Yule. I was hit by a big creative bug. I sewed myself a lovely moon cushion, dried orange slices which I will soon make into a garland, and crafted lovely gifts for my friends. I created the gifts for my friends with love. 

My moon cushion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I gathered pinecones and cleaned them, then baked them in the oven. I sprinkled sweet orange essential oil, cinnamon and clove bud essential oils onto the pinecones. I arranged them in a basket and set the basket next to our decorations. 

A basket of pinecones

I made two new green felt christmas tree decorations. I traced a christmas tree onto green felt, cut it out, sewed the christmas tree leaving an opening to add the batting, and then sewed it shut. I sewed on a loop at the top to hang the green felt tree at the windows. 
Herbs are for Yule/ Winter Solstice! I have had a great time first foraging for wintry herbs such as juniper, white spruce, balsam fir, northern white cedar and rosemary. I dehydrated oranges. I made smudge sticks with bay leaves, the dried oranges and the foraged herbs. I used the dried oranges to decorate presents. I created a winter lantern with bay leaves, rosemary, lavender, pine and cedar. I glued found twigs to a small glass jar then painted them gold. It looks great! I tucked in fairy lights in the lantern- looks magical! I created herbal tea blends to give as gifts with hibiscus, orange, cinnamon, star anise, juniper, nutmeg, cloves, liquorice root, chamomile, calendula, elderflower, elderberry, echinacea, rooibos. I wish I could keep the tea blends! Dried oranges make great gift ornaments too. So pretty. I sewed tea cozies for two of my friends and added a tea blend. I even sewed tea coasters to go with the tea cozies. Now I want to bake gingerbread cookies. I put love and intention into everything I did. Herbs are great and I may be old school here, but I did not use a blender or a coffee grinder. I ground the cinnamon, juniper berries, star anise, reships with my mortar and pestle. I stir and grind and work in my intention and energy. I can’t wait for my friends to get my gifts.
I planted sprigs of sage, thyme and lavender and mint in a pot to have fresh herbs over the winter. I made a lavender ‘wand’ to help me with stress over the holidays.
I saved tiny sprigs of the above mentioned herbs, put them into a tiny jar with a cork top, then sealed the jar with candle wax. I  brewed a jar of apple cider liquer and I am steeping a batch of elderberry and calendula cold and flu elixir!
This will be the best yule/ winter solstice ever. I wish you all a magical holiday season. Blessings.

The best way that I celebrated the winter solstice was with the druid coven by the ocean. I have not woken at 6 am in a long time, but I did and it was so worth it. There could not have been a better more spiritual way to celebrate Yule, in my opinion. I loved it. Yes it was early in the morning, but who cares? I know it was cold, but that is to be expected. I had a great time. I loved watching the sea birds soar over the ocean, and the big waves crashing over the rocks. The Solstice, the changing of the seasons is old as time. We were carrying on a tradition that was very likely old as time, too. Chanting and drumming at that lookoff spot just felt so good. I’m sure I spotted an eagle!

The spot where the coven celebrated the solstice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wind prevented us from enjoying a bonfire, but we perservered.  Afterwards, everyone left and those remaining, including Brian and Karen and a few more friends, we had coffee and a nice chat at Brian’s house. That was the best Solstice celebration I got to enjoy in a long time. Being out in nature to honor one of the earth’s natural changes felt like the best way to honor it. That is the way it should be. 

Now we can all relax and rest during the holidays. I am sure many of you are enjoying a nice, festive dinner with your loved ones. For those who are all alone during this time, you matter. You are important. For anyone who misses their loved ones who may have passed, I know, I am right there with you. I miss my grandparents. Wish they were here. 

I wish you all a magical, memorable Yule time! Blessings and love and light. 

Blessed be, Spiderwitch

 

 

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December 19, 2023 · 12:36 am

Winter Solstice Baking and Decorations )O(

Merry meet all,

I am not happy that the weather became so miserable. I worried about losing power which never happened. I postponed the holiday baking. However, I did have some success with presents. 

I assembled a fire starter kit and coffee for my brother and lip balm for my mother. I placed moss, a pinecone I painted white, a bit of birch bark and matches in a glass jar. I put the moss in first followed by the pinecone, then the matches secured with string and a white candle. If he ever loses power, he is prepared for any event or disaster. I also poured instant coffee into a jar with a cinnamon stick and 2 star anise. I had no gift box or packaging so I improvised. 

I used a brown paper bag to store the gifts but first I painted it! I traced a tree from a cookie cutter onto the bag and outlined it in black and green. Then I painted the tree I traced on green. I painted the rest of the bag white. I had to be careful because brown paper bags are delicate when they are wet. I hole punched the bag and wound twine through the holes and tied them. I placed the fire starter kit and the coffee in the bag. I baked the pumpkin bread in a bundt pan. 

I made a small tin of peppermint and sweet orange lip balm for my Mom. In fact it smelled so good I made a tiny pot of it for myself. I am sure she will enjoy it. I can’t wait to wrap it. 

I baked a loaf of pumpkin bread and I added crushed walnut. I have to make the frosting for it. I want to use orange food colouring to frost the bread and add cinnamon and orange zest to the frosting. I plan to make peppermint bark, gingerbread, gingerbread cookies, and yuletide bread. My family will love me for such delicious treats. Or their bodies will hate me. It is the time for feasting though. 

Gingerbread was a tradition of my grandparents. I want to make a loaf because they are gone now and I know it was what they would have baked this holiday season. I can remember being at the cottage during the holidays and they would bake it fresh. Tomorrow nothing will stop me. I want to use up a lot of ingredients and such festive baking is surely the answer to that. I have a lot of dried orange peel in my icebox which is perfect for this. I’m going to bake the yuletide bread in the bundt pan too. I have to candy the lemon peel and orange peel. I have the ‘cranberry and raisin’ raisins for that recipe too. I think it will be delicious. 

I bought a beautiful festive bag from the dollar store which will hold the sweets and gifts. Penny is celebrating Christmas dinner with us of course. She will be part of all the fun. Of course. Penny is family! I tidied up her litter box tonight. Penny loves to lounge on the red tree skirt which definitely doesn’t look pagan but very christmasy but oh well- I do my best. 

I’m celebrating the Solstice solo. Well I am not really alone. I have the company of cats and the spirits here. I have some organic locally sourced hamburger meat. I plan to cook an awesome meatloaf and have an amazing meal and perform a ritual. It is the Christmas dinner with my family I am really preparing for. 

I also saved the best news for last (but not least): I am so happy to share that Wicked Shadow Press published my horror flash fiction story, Winter Solstice Spell in their upcoming anthology, Yule Cat Codex! 

The Yule Cat Codex by Wicked Shadow Press featuring my flash fiction story and many others

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday I foraged for wintry goodies from the nature trail. I foraged eastern white pine, common juniper and Sikta Spruce. I cleaned, trimmed and am now drying the herbs in brown paper bags. If the weather is better tomorrow, I will dry the herbs in my dehydrator. I did create a smudge stick with the juniper, pine and I have to add rosemary. 

I still want to make some decorations out of salt dough. I was inspired by a video I watched. I never lost power today but I did no baking. I could have been so much more ahead. I am having dinner with my family on the 24th. Everything will be perfect.

The best part of baking and making gifts is wrapping them. I don’t have a lot of gifts to give but it feels good. I did already gift my mother the iron tonic syrup. I am sure she will love the minty sweet lip balm. Either way, I can’t wait to wrap it all and package the baked goods but tomorrow I plan to do some last minute shopping. Then it will be bake, bake, bake and create, create, create!

Of course though, I look forward to that. I am a diehard kitchen witch with a rep to maintain.  I can’t wait to begin! 

Don’t let the Yule lads get the best of you! I watched the version of A Christmas Carol with George C Scott the other night. I am so in the mood for the Solstice! I enjoyed the movie so much! It was the best version ever. 

It is almost time for me to strain the Pear Liquor. I can’t wait to enjoy it on the Solstice. I need a pretty jar. I can’t wait to try it. 

https://www.milkglasshome.com/pear-liqueur-recipe/?fbclid=IwAR0OHTTUT4bydi42jwOGnEBdRfEdHJJLArMMjfMypQn-S7epB8P8DDvql40

In other news, I  created a herbal vision board. 

I do believe I will enjoy baking and decorating! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blessings, Spiderwitch 

 

 

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September 25, 2023 · 1:47 pm

Samhain Style )O(

Merry meet all,

Happy Mabon! Fall is here. I have been busy decorating my apartment for fall/ Samhain. I set up my goth ghost tree. I sipped cider and listened to classic Halloween tunes as I did. I painted wooden ghosts white, orange and black and hung them up on the tree. I found a few cool items at the dollar store and added them to the tree. I hung a black leaf garland on the bookcase, and wound orange lights through the garland and then added orange fabric pumpkins to the garland. I love how it all looks- playful and wicked at the same time. That is the spirit of fall. For those of you who are already keen to decorate, then keep reading. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I roasted pumpkin seeds, brewed a pot of cider and I just found my halloween altar cloths, tapestries and a brown tablecloth I made myself. I repaired my black lace maxi skirt and washed it. The skirt is ready to wear. I am so happy about that. I plan to wear it to the Paranormal Symposium. I feel the magical chill in the air as fiery leaves trickle to the earth. It’s the Season of the Witch, for sure. I love this time of year. 

I even made a tree skirt for my goth tree. I used a grey spider print plastic table cover. I cut a hole in the centre for the centre of the goth tree pole then I arranged it around the tree. You can’t see it in the photo above but it is cool and my cat sits on it. I am ready for Samhain now and I hope you are too. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Decorations don’t have to cost a whole credit card or your entire life savings. I barely spent any money on my decorations. October is a magical time of year but it is only once a year. I never feel that I have to spend a fortune. If you keep that in mind and buy decorations that can be used more than once a year, then you will find better items to purchase. That is how I always look at it. 

I use items from nature and herbs. I harvested all the Chinese lanterns. They ripen to a lovely orange colour. Pumpkins can be used for decoration of course, as well as acorns, pinecones, and gourds. Don’t buy the fake ones from the store. Forage for your own goodies! You can use them in spells as well. You can draw up more energy for spells from a real gourd or acorn. I never buy plastic pinecones. I live near a nature trail so it is easy for me to find nature treasures. Nothing I love more than harvesting and foraging for acorns, pinecones, apples, herbs. If you want tips on how to clean them to avoid pests, then peruse the past blog posts. 

My garden is winding down. The leaves turn gold and red. I still have celery, tomatoes (a few, thanks to the hurricane), and green peppers growing. It is hardly the harvest I was hoping for. I’m keeping an eye for when the frost hits and I still haven’t planted garlic. I still want to grow carrots. Carrots can handle a frost. I strolled through the nature trail. Sadly, I am not sure what happened to the elder shrubs but there are not nearly the same amount of elderberries as last year. I want to make elderberry syrup but I may have to buy the berries at the organic food store this year. The shrubs were almost bare of berries. That had to be due to Hurricane Lee. 

Here is more inspiration to satisfy your decorating itch! https://enchantedlivingmagazine.com/a-table-to-celebrate-your-autumn-inner-witch/?fbclid=IwAR0kH8PaBBjFXLvURRmu-76itsIL5ABshJY89jorYV2nj6ppVDARW02tphM

I found this article too: https://www.bhg.com/halloween/outdoor-decorations/halloween-outdoor-makeover/

Do what works for you and reflects your personal style. You can go with a theme of ghouls, zombies, or more classic and subtle halloween decorations, whatever strikes your fancy. It looks like Samhain all year in my apartment but that is just me. Let me know what inspired you in the comments. 

Blessings, Spiderwitch 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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