Functional Christmas decor - use fresh herbs to decorate your kitchen.

Decorating for Christmas can become a little mundane when you put up the same decorations year after year. I wanted to change it up by bringing in more natural elements and less bling. I have a pot rack installed over my kitchen island. This rack is not very functional for pots because they hang too low, so it's pretty much decorative. In the past, I have used the usual holiday greenery with red accents of holly and ribbon - very typical. We are expecting our first real freeze next week, just in time to get us in the holiday spirit! Because it's the first freeze, all of my non-evergreen herbs must be harvested for drying. Which gave me the idea to turn my pot rack into a lush holiday herb drying rack.

I needed to harvest my mint, basil and sage, but I also cut a lot of rosemary to complete the look. Rosemary is an evergreen where I live so I wouldn't have to trim it down but it's perfect as holiday decor. I have plenty of it to spare and it makes the house smell so good!

I gathered a some burlap twine, ribbon and tiny holly sprigs to make the fresh cut herb bundles look festive.

First I started by cutting the herbs back in my garden and pots. I mostly use my kitchen scissors, but my rosemary is so mature it's much easier with a garden pruner. I like to give the herbs a quick rinse off outside, followed by a brief vinegar rinse(fill a sink with cold water and a few tablespoons of vinegar). The vinegar will ensure you aren't bringing any bugs into the house with your herbs. Don't leave herbs like mint in the vinegar mix too long because they will brown.

I hung most of the non-evergreen herb bundles in the middle, because they will start to dry almost immediately while the rosemary and sage will stay pretty much longer.

These bundles would also make great gift wrap toppers, maybe just in a smaller size...

The finished product: