Carols and Crumpets - Tulsa

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December 5 from 8 to 3, Carols and Crumpets: An Herbal Craft Fair will be held at the Tulsa Garden Center, 2435 S Peoria Ave. Lunch at the holiday-decorated Snowflake Cafe will be served 11 – 2. Information http://tulsagardencenter.com, 918-746-5125, patsywynn@cox.net. 

Tulsa Herb Society sponsors Carols and Crumpets each year and I visited them last week during a crafting session to see what they are working on for the sale.

Herb Society member Lou Ann Gray constructed a felt tree that will be decorated with homemade gingerbread cookies and a Christmas skirt.  Her tree will be a raffle prize.

“I usually make the trees out of old Army blankets,” Gray said. “First the wool is boiled to felt it. Then, I cut it into strips and cut the strips again. Using a dowel, floral tape and wire, I wind the wool and let it dry. Holes are drilled a large dowel and the branches are individually attached.” 

Pat Ernst and Betty Muratet showed me how the Christmas tree bulbs are transformed from clear to beautifully painted tree and wreath decorations. 

 At another table the cooking group was making Bouquet Garni sachets.

Mary Dillion said, “We combine black peppercorns, parsley, basil, rosemary, oregano and other herbs and fold them into a food-safe muslin packet that we tie with cotton string.”

“For the herb vinegars, chutneys and dried arrangements, members contribute the bounty from their own gardens”, explained Frankie Fostercatts.

New items include peach chutney and strawberry-basil jam which Dillon described as light, tart, fruity and crisp.

“Chutney is a combination of herbs, spices, fruits, vegetables, sugar and vinegar”, said Fostercatts. “The most popular items include cranberry holiday jam. Fresh, local peaches, strawberries and pears were also used as ingredients this year.”

Tulsa Herb Society members meet three days each month for a year in order to make hundreds of holiday decorations, herbal vinegars, wreaths, chutneys, dried floral arrangements, hypertufa planters, penny felted items, Christmas tree decorations, soaps and lotions. They also bring in a room full of evergreens boughs that are sold in bundles for home decoration.

Other vendors at Carols and Crumpets include: Kirk’s wood-carved Santa’s, Utopia Gardens, Prigmore Pottery, Garden Deva, Artistry and Old Lace, Laughing Rabbit Soap, Basket Sensations, 3 Peas in a Pod, Clear Creek Farm, etc.

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