decorations from my kitchen ~ a photo tutorial and other inspiration

It's been a whirl of creative activity around our house these days. Everyone, daddy included, is crafting. Please forgive my frequent posting (right on through the weekend even) but I'm excited to share it all; the photography, the ideas, the creative energy. It's a wonderful season for the Tougas family.

A few of the items I've been making are Christmas decorations from the kitchen. Nothing new, no doubt, but very easy and hopefully a bit of inspiration for your own project(s).

1. Dried pepper garland

I got the idea for this after watching our beautiful orange, red and green peppers from the farm sit unused (the kids don't like spicy food) and dry up on the window ledge. After seeing what lovely light lanterns they became when held up to the sunlight I decided to buy a few habeneros from the produce market (on purpose) to dry in the dehydrator.

I made two garlands. One with the original farm peppers on twisted red, golden and green embroidery floss that is strung on the tree. Below, Celine holds it up to the sunlight that was reflected off our neighbor's window in the early morning. That photo is all natural, no computer tricks or presets (catching the light like that makes me swoon).

For the other garland I used the dried haberneros and golden embroidery floss coated with beeswax to make the garland a bit stiffer. To do so I dribbled a bit of melted wax on and rubbed in with my fingers. This one hangs on my kitchen window (attached to the window behind the valence with none other than... beeswax) catching the morning sun. I love it!

The cool thing about this decoration is that it will last through the winter and isn't exclusively "christmasy".

2. Dried oranges garland

This garland is even easier, if that's actually possible, than the peppers. I dried orange slices in our dehydrator but you could use an oven on low for several hours and get a similar result I'd imagine.

Once dried they sat in jars for a month or so just looking pretty. Then last week Celine and I strung them onto fancy "eyelash" yarn that was in our stash. You could use any yarn or ribbon you'd like. We liked the "tinsel" effect of this yarn.

You can see it pictured below on the tree, the red one blends in a bit more but the yellow strand really pops out.

3. More inspiration from the kitchen

• Of course the perennial from-the-kitchen favorite is popcorn and cranberries. This year I'm taking a break from this stand-by.
• 5 Orange Potatoes recently posted a cinnamon "cookie" decoration. I recall making these in years past, oh they smell so good!
• I loved this easy cranberry-bunt pan advent wreath from Small Notebook.
• My friend Spring (her real name, don't you love it?) made this snow garland which is not exactly from her kitchen but it is hanging in her kitchen, that counts. It requires a couple supplies but looks sweet and easy.

4. Kitchen related notes

I wanted to point you to this post I wrote last December about roasting chestnuts. Also, a couple people asked about the ganache Damien made me. Well, that recipe is top secret (I've been too lazy to ask him for it on your behalf) but you can always make these decadent, yet healthy, chocolate truffles.