There is a moment every year when the air turns crisp, the trees fall quiet and the scent of wet pine lingers in a way that feels older than memory. The season shifts, and suddenly the world begins to mirror something ancestral — something carried forward long before malls, consumeristic décor and elaborately packaged gifts. Our ancestors welcomed winter with their hands in the elements, harvesting herbs and gathering foliage, twisting evergreens into circles meant for protection, gratitude and honoring the cycles of life. These wreaths weren’t ornaments; they were offerings to the land and reminders of our place within it.
Winter has always had a way of slowing us down and calling us inward. Every true OG knows that call — the moment when the pace drops, the senses open and you feel the presence of something older guiding you back to yourself. And sometimes it arrives as simply as a ganja chalice passed your way: an invitation to pause, breathe in gratitude and reconnect with your creative, free, Indigenous spirit.
This is the season of wild-harvested creation. When we craft with nature, we honor a lineage of makers who shaped beauty out of what the land generously offered. Their traditions were never complicated. They were heartfelt, handmade and rooted in a community’s relationship with Earth Mother. Rekindling the instinct to forage, gather and create with what’s already around us is a practice that reawakens the Indigenous creative within—reminding us that creativity has always been ceremony, and ceremony has always been tied to land.
Let this be your invitation this holiday season to reawaken the wild artist inside and strengthen your bond with the living land that sustains us. Step away from the mass-produced and back toward what is Earth-grown, seasonally available and resonant with living spirit.
DIY Guide: Crafting Your Winter Weed Wreath
What you will need:
• An open heart and creative mind
• Clippers or garden shears (your Croptober scissors work beautifully)
• Gardening gloves
• Wire wrap
• Ribbon or twine
• Double-sided tape
• A circular base frame
• Foraged foliage, aromatic herbals, berries, nugs and pinecones
1. Prepare Your Foraging Spirit
Before heading out, pause, breathe and offer gratitude to the land, the ancestors and the plant relations joining your creation. This moment turns a craft into ceremony.
Bring:
• Clippers
• Gloves
• Garden or winter boots
• A basket or waterproof bag
• Rubber bands or twine
• A drop-proof 16-ounce nontoxic vessel or a RE:STASH jar
2. Harvest With Respect
Gather what nature freely offers: fallen branches, evergreen sprigs, pinecones, seed pods, cedar tips, juniper berries, mistletoe, rosemary and aromatic herbals.
If you harvest from a living plant, take only what’s needed and offer gratitude. As Hawaiians, we say “Ho‘oponopono” three times — “I’m sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you.”
3. Build Your Base
The circle is our oldest teacher — moon, seasons, drumbeat, medicine wheel.
Shape your wreath using grapevine, willow branches, fallen sticks or a biodegradable frame. Twist gently and let the natural curve guide your shape. Imperfection feels alive.
4. Layer Your Greens
Wrap evergreen, cedar, holly or rosemary around your frame, securing with twine or wire. Let botanicals overlap like pinecone scales to build fullness and structure.
5. Infuse the Green
A holiday wreath isn’t complete without a touch of Cannabis. Eastwood Gardens of Portland, Oregon, blessed us with fresh-cut Runtz Horchata fan leaves and frosty nugglage for a dank seasonal glow.
Cluster Cannabis fan leaves using double-sided tape, then tuck trimmed nugs into the greenery and secure with wire wrap.
6. Incorporate Winter Offerings
Add pinecones, rose hips, sage, cinnamon sticks, dried citrus or ornamental pods. Secure each piece well.
Symbolic blessings:
• Cedar for protection
• Pinecones for rebirth
• Juniper for cleansing
• Rosemary for remembrance
• Cannabis for creativity, healing and community joy
7. Bind and Bless
Wrap a final line of fishing wire, ribbon or twine to hold everything in place. Create a loop for hanging.
Hold your wreath, close your eyes and whisper your intention: “May this wreath offer peace, joy, creative inspiration and a spirit of healing to all who behold it.”
8. Display With Pride
Hang it on your door, in your home, above your altar or in your sesh nook. Let it remind you that creativity is medicine and winter offers wild gifts.
Happy holidays, OGs. As we move into a new year, remember: Every season is a chance to “Elevate Your Fate and Re:Indigenate.”
