Tweak the Color Theme
Natural materials -- fresh or dried flowers, berries and other fruits, and new twists on your favorite evergreens -- can simplify and uplift your decorating. With a few easy additions of ribbons and candles, nature moves in a sophisticated direction throughout the house.
First, traditional red and green Christmas colors get a makeover with a slight shift of the color palette to bright crimson and chartreuse.
Deck the Banister
Natural birch branches form the backbone of this project (but you could use redtwig dogwood or other branches). For added drama, cut the branches longer so they're taller than your banister, or include more bunches. Use thin florist's wire to lash them to the banister posts along with evergreens (in this case, noble fir) and twigs of bright red winterberries. Matte and glossy chartreuse ornaments add another dimension. Tie it all back with a velvet chartreuse ribbon. Making a bow is optional.
Frame the Scene
Who says wreaths must be round? Cut floral foam to a size that will fit inside a window in a door or entryway. Completely cover the foam with preserved green hydrangea blooms. Decorate with sprigs of winterberries. A coordinating green ribbon helps hang it up.
Flower "Presents"
These cute packages take time, but they're easy to make. Cut a block of floral foam into the size you wish. Cut the heads off chartreuse 'Kermit' button mums. Stick a pearl-headed pin through the center of each flower to secure it to the foam. Wrap red velvet ribbon around the finished package, or just add a bow on top. The flowers stay fresh for about three days.
Vase and Garland Ideas
Vases of Red: Carry a theme throughout your decor by using variations of similar materials. We filled clear glass vases of varying shapes and sizes with red flowers and berries, using only one type per vase: amaryllis, winterberry or tulips. The winterberry branches are strong enough to support a few small ornaments.
Fresh Garland: For an alternative to evergreens, make garlands from fresh bells of Ireland. Cut 1-inch sections of the stalks, which have green florets. The hollow stalks are the tubes through which you thread string or yarn. Fresh florets last about a day. When dry, push flowers together.
Firebox Finery
Wrap wide green ribbon in bands around a square vase, then fill with decorated winterberry branches. Simple red votives with white candles provide a glow at a safe distance.
Calming Colors
For the cool blue walls and white hutch, we used chartreuse and dropped traditional reds in favor of white, brown and soft purple. The tabletop holds a long hedge of hydrangeas, white amaryllis, purple statice, mixed evergreens, fresh pears and white-tipped pinecones, all tucked into moistened floral foam placed on a low tray. The hedge in the hutch uses statice with a line of hydrangeas and white-tipped pinecones at the base.
Place-Setting Ideas
Wrap candles with fat velvet ribbon attached with pearl-headed pins; place them at each seat. White-tipped pinecones atop napkins hold place cards. Tiny crystal vases hold single sprigs of hydrangea.
Decor Overhead
If you have a hanging light fixture or chandelier, attach white-tipped pinecones with slender wire or fishing line for a wintery look.
Easy Fruit Box
Use a wooden box to serve as a centerpiece. Fill the base with dry floral foam, then tuck mixed evergreens throughout. Attach citrus fruits, such as oranges, lemons and limes, to floral picks, and tuck them into the greenery. For the clove patterns, use a pencil to draw spirals or other designs on an orange, then poke whole cloves into the skin at evenly spaced points.
Pineapple Tower
Why let your garden urns sit vacant all winter? Cut or buy a floral foam cone to stack on top of the urn. Slice the point off the cone to make a flat base where you'll attach the pineapple later. Building from the bottom up, attach evergreens by tucking the twig ends into the foam. Near the base, use floral picks to attach a row of oranges decorated with cloves. Halfway up the cone, attach pomegranates using floral picks. A row of orange halves runs three-quarters of the way up, with pinecones forming a base for a whole pineapple attached with floral picks.
This slide show's creations were a collaboration between Midwest Living and Botanicals Inc., 2214 N. Elston Avenue, Chicago (773/269-3142; www.botanicalschicago.com).
Natural decorating is almost always preferable to the plastic overdose the holidays often bring. But PL_EEE_ASE don't suggest "natural" gift wrap from button mums! Nothing could be less natural! This is just "nuts" (pardon the pun), because it's silly and not a good use of my time, to put it mildly. .....
12/2/2009 04:20:38 PM Report Abuse