Ben was home for Thanksgiving, and we all decided to revive a family tradition by picking princess pine to make a Christmas wreath. My grandmother Helen Lucy Garratt Hoag, who lived in the house we now call home, led an expedition every year. At that time we used burlap feed sacks to collect this low ground shrub. Nanny, as we called her, made a large wreath that hung in her dining room. Every visit leading up to Christmas we children were allowed to add a decoration to the wreath. Most decorations were old mismatched jewelry, barrettes, beads and other odds and ends that Nanny had collected. Paul and I stopped collecting princess pine many years ago because my father was concerned that it was endangered. We bought a large fake wreath that we have been using in our dining room for the same purpose. However, right now I don't see any references to princess pine being threatened and there are huge quantities in the woods, so we decided to pick some again. I made a smaller wreath for our front door and we are still using the fake wreath in the house for small ornaments. All of our guests, young and older, add ornaments to the wreath.
Here is the princess pine we picked this year, along with some berries that Ben took back to Baltimore. He will make something for his door also.
Here is the finished wreath on our door.
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