Christmas is my favorite time of the year. Some would say I go "a little crazy".
Having lived all over the world as a youngster, I have seen Christmas decorating in all cultures and all walks of life.
People mistakenly believe they need to go out and spend a great deal of money to achieve amazing eye popping decor.
Actually, nature provides some of the best decor for you!
Some hints on how to get fresh greenery... If you do not live in an area that has a variety of greenery, where you may go out and fresh cut, then stop by your local tree lot. When the tree lots cut off the bottom of the Christmas tree for customers, they are happy for you to collect the branches. You would be surprised how many branches and varieties of greenery you are able to collect. They just throw that away.
We put all delicate plants away before the first freeze. We then fill our pots with a variety of cuttings, and evergreen branches such as Holly, Nandina, Pyracantha, Fir, Pine, Cedar, Rosemary, etc, be creative (you may need to replace them after a month -but hey- they are free).
As the months grow cooler, many bushes produce beautiful and vibrant berries. Look around your yard or neighborhood and gather many of these.
Take your empty pot or urn and make sure you have some soil in them (helps prevent them from blowing over and holds water). These cuttings are still alive and will absorb the water in the soil and stay fresh longer (feel free to water it if you live in a dry climate).
In the fall, we place a variety of our leftover veggies from the garden, such as corn, pumpkin, squash, okra (we let okra and squash get large and tough to use as decor), in and around the pots.
When the Christmas Season is upon us, we take away the fall veggies and add Winter flair.Make a garland of cheap plastic Christmas balls. Collect, fun shaped sticks, and branches that have lost their leaves. I often spray them gold, red, silver or leave natural to create a beautiful tall accent in pots.
Our flowers do not go back out into nature until March, so we see our Christmas decor morph into "Winter Decor". We remove the balls and other obvious Christmas decor, refresh the greenery in the pots so they look fresh, and we continue to have a Winter theme.
I have found that after you have used nature for your decor, and you have made your first pot, you will begin to notice and spot beautiful things to decorate your outdoors with!
I have been known to stop the car and jump out and cut a unique evergreen from the side of the road (be careful to respect private property).
I have been known to stop the car and jump out and cut a unique evergreen from the side of the road (be careful to respect private property).
Be sure and use some of your fresh greenery indoors to bring in that wonderful winter scent and creative beautiful garlands or swags.
Have fun and do not limit your imagination!
