Which herbs are being used in your family for the holidays in December ?
Are you cooking or baking with them?
Are they being used in your decorations?
How about as gifts?

I use little sprigs of rosemary as table decor because they look like pine branches.
Lots of Sage in dressing.
I was planning to make lavender cookies but my lavender did not produce many flower stalks this year

Are frankincense or myrrh considered spices ? or ?
I don't have or use them , but your question made me think of them

They are both spices. Frankincense comes from the bark of the tree and myrrh is the sap of the tree

I am making dream pillows (pleasant mixture of aromatic herbs sewn into small packets to place inside your pillowcase, cough syrup, some belly rub for my three pregnant nieces, and likely some other lotions. My nuclear family doesn't exchange purchased gifts (we instead commit to work weekends) but we do exchange home-made items on Christmas Eve. My older son is usually good for some yummy home smoked jerky, and the younger son makes a wonderful hot sauce and spice mix. The only one I still buy for is my granddaughter, cause she's still a kid.

Homemade items are more interesting.
My grandparents followed a tradition of giving
Something to wear
Something to eat
Something needed
Something fun
We didn't necessarily get four items as sometimes they combined categories like clothing could be both wearable and needed or something to eat and something fun might be a box of Cracker Jack
I am giving lotions and tea blends this year

I just do gifts for younger grandchildren.
But I would be interested in knowing how you use herbs.
Perhaps a separate thread on making lotions? and perhaps another on making tea blends?
The tummy rubs for your pregnant nieces is a very thoughtful gift!

Good idea, Caroline. I'll start one on lotions, which is what I've done the most of. Perhaps Mindy can start a tea thread.

Mindy already has a tea thread I bumped it up

I brought in some herbs from our demonstration herb bed at our county Fairgrounds. Our Master Gardeners group hosts a greens workshop each December, and in addition to the basic greens we buy (frasier fir and white pine), we purchase some specialty greens and our member donate dried goods. I brought in gray santolina, lavender, dried fennel flowers, thyme, salvia, rosemary, etc. We try to encourage people to look around their surroundings and use the lovely bounty we have.

Other dried donations (not herbs) included thistle heads, sedum, pine cones, blackberry lilies, dried okra pods, dried magnolia seed pods, pine cones, german statice, red twig dogwood.

It's amazing to see how creative people can be.

I typically put up an outside tree and decorate it with food for the birds (popcorn, seed balls, fruit slices, cut out bread slices). I also nab pretty things from my gardens - fluffy seedheads from Joe Pye and hydrangeas, rose hips, and of course holly berries. The popcorn is my favorite - I just pop some up and toss it into the tree branches to stick where they land. I do this often, using just plain popcorn cooked on the stove in a bit of oil. Once the birds have discovered the tree, they become decorations themselves. We place the tree on our deck outside our living room and put up a couple strings of lights.

Love that idea for a tree, and feeding the birds, Deb

I agree -- that would be a great thing to do after the tree is taken down!

Scraps of leftover uncooked pie crust can be sprinkled with cinnamon or something, then baked a bit for treats. I love homemade pie crust in any form!

Me too, Linda -- yum!

Love leftover pie crust with cinnamon
We made them as children and called them fuss pies

Why fuss pies?

Haha! Maybe the children are fussing, so they're given these treats to quiet them down?

At the holidays, I always make a sweet/spicy nut mix that has some fresh thyme and rosemary in with the sugar/cinnamon/cayenne mix. No one ever figures out what it is, but everyone asks for the recipe. I always have to make a double batch when my sister is over for the holidays.

LindaTX8 said:Haha! Maybe the children are fussing, so they're given these treats to quiet them down?

LOL, like "hush puppies" ?!

some years , I have used Sunflower , devils tickseed , and millet , or oats , in peanut butter balls (suet Balls ) for the , Birds when it stays cold enough and I have the seeds ,
Drying some catnip , get spicy in the air with a candle , little tea melted into the candle wax ,
Basil on the windowsill ,
Reminds me ,, I should grow more lavender .