From a pine vinegar sachet: what can you make from a Christmas tree after the holidays

How about creating eco-friendly laundry detergent from Christmas tree needles? A 2021 study found that pine needles can kill several types of dangerous bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, so vinegar wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Here’s how to prepare it: cut a few branches, chop them finely or break them, put them in a jar so that there is almost no space left. Pour 9% white vinegar over the needles, close the lid and leave for at least three weeks.

After that, you can start using the solution. Don’t dilute it if you’re disinfecting counters or removing grease from the stove, but if you need a milder solution, add water to the vinegar in a 1:1 ratio.

Making sachets from Christmas tree needles is perhaps the easiest way to give a second life to a New Year tree. Just take burlap bags (or sew them yourself by fabric), fill them with pine needles and tie a velvet or satin ribbon on top – and the taste is ready! By the way, you can not only hang it at home (for example, in a closet), but also give it to friends.

Using spruce branches to perfume a room can have a different aspect: for example, you can transform them into a dry perfume for the home. For this you will also need bay leaves, nutmeg, cinnamon sticks, cloves, pine cones and dried orange slices. Place all this as well as the spruce branches in a glass jar, the walls of which are sprinkled with essential oils of cinnamon, cedar, pine and orange, close, shake well, let it infuse for a few days, then pour in the mixture on top. a beautiful saucer and place it in the bedroom or kitchen.

Making a spruce extract or infusion from Christmas tree needles is another way to use the needles once the holidays are over. To prepare the tincture, grind fresh pine needles in a meat grinder and grind dry pine needles in a coffee grinder. Fill the jar three quarters with the resulting raw material, fill it to the top with vodka or alcohol, let it brew for three weeks, then filter and store in a dark place. Add the extract to water when you take a bath: it’s as relaxing as lavender!

Also read: 10 color combinations to decorate a Christmas tree that will never go out of style

It may seem like using Christmas tree needles in baths and saunas is a bad idea, because the needles can damage the skin. However, experienced bathers explain, there is a subtlety that will save you from scratches: the branches must first be soaked in boiling water for 30 minutes, then the needles will become soft and pleasantly tingle the body. By the way, you don’t have to make a broom out of a Christmas tree: you can simply throw steamed branches on the ground and walk on them barefoot to stimulate the acupuncture points on your feet.

The use of Christmas tree needles in the preparation of aromatic drinks is a long-standing tradition known in many parts of the world. For example, in his book “In the footsteps of Robinson”, Nikolaï Verzilin says that it was thanks to tea made from pine needles that the Breton navigator Jacques Cartier saved himself and his crew from scurvy when he left to explore the coasts of Canada. in 1596.

Of course, there are unlikely to be young cones on the New Year tree, but if you have the opportunity to collect them, you can prepare a dessert. Making mousses and syrups from pine cones is now very popular – there are many video recipes from which you can choose the one that suits you.

Is there a summer resident who does not know that there is such an opportunity as using spruce branches to strengthen the soil in the garden? Spruce needles and branches make excellent mulch, which enriches the soil and makes the garden healthier and the vegetable patch more productive.

The production of spruce oil or essential oils from fir needles is a rather complex procedure that requires special equipment. However, you can easily prepare the simplest pine oil at home and then use it as a skin moisturizer.

As you can see, using fir branches in bouquets and arrangements is not the only way to put them to good use. If none of the tips work for you, try to find out where you can take the wood for processing: for example, it is often taken to zoos to feed animals or ground up and used for compost and soil production.

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