Halloween has passed, Daylight Savings time has bowed out, and the spring-blooming bulbs have been planted (maybe). It’s time to think about holiday decorations, no matter what holidays you celebrate.
Gray and Damp Meets Vibrant and Creative
Depending on where you live, winter may be snowy, or simply gray and damp. I think those conditions make brightening up interior spaces extremely necessary for mental health. Everyone should adorn their living spaces according to their aesthetic, cultural and/or religious beliefs. Budgetary parameters are a given for most of us, but creativity is free. Natural decorations, foraged from your garden, the grocery store, or the edge of the roadside can beautify the house and without breaking the bank. After all, most of us also have to think about buying holiday gifts.
Ever Popular Evergreens
If you have access to evergreen boughs or sprigs, your holiday decorating is off to a flying start.
Think about holly, magnolia and euonymus varieties. All have decorative leaves that can be used in indoor and outdoor arrangements, affixed to wreaths or formed into swags, mantelpiece garlands or stairway roping. Berries, like those on many varieties of holly, are a definite plus.
Some varieties of holly and euonymus, as well as “false holly” or Osmanthus heterophylla, may boast variegated leaves, which make a nice contrast with green-leafed varieties.
Pine, fir or spruce branches are lovely as well. If don’t have access to trimmings from those conifers on your own property, it’s possible that neighbors and friends may have an abundance. It never hurts to ask, but always make sure to do so before pruning someone else’s tree or shrub.
Cones and Nuts
Squirrels and chipmunks are not the only creatures that profit from collecting fallen acorns, pinecones and chestnuts. They are everywhere at this time of the year and generally free for the taking. Every year decorators and florists use these nuts and cones in creative, high-end arrangements and you can too. Hot glue them to store-bought or homemade twig wreaths. For a dose of opulence, cover your finds with gold or silver spray paint. Let the gilded cones or acorns dry and pile them up in a basket adored with a big bow. Nothing could be simpler or more festive.
Garden Finds
Suppose for a moment that you haven’t had a chance to do much garden clean-up. You are in luck, because perennial beds and borders can yield some great decorative “finds”, and almost all are thoroughly dried and ready to be used. The faded flowerheads of sedums like ‘Autumn Joy’ and perennial yarrows make great decorative accents. Dried rosebuds, left on the bushes after hard frosts can do the same job. Likewise with rose hips. Some crabapple varieties bear bright fruits that persist on the trees. Harvesting a few boughs will add to the festive array in a window box or planter.
Roses of Sharon, when not cut back after flowering, produce interesting seedheads, which can be used as is, spray painted, or covered in glitter. By harvesting them, you have also you’re your bit to curb at least a little of the plant’s flagrant self-seeding tendencies. Poppy pods, large and small are longtime favorites with florists, decorators and craftspeople. In fact, just about any desiccated plant material that does not disintegrate when harvested can play a starring or supporting role in holiday decorating.
If you have forgotten to cut and dry hydrangea flowerheads last summer, all is not lost. Yes, they have probably traded their summer colors for shades of buff and tan, but they too will come in handy for decorating. Spray paint them to match your holiday color scheme.
Invasive Virtues
If you have an invasive vine, like Asian bittersweet, honeysuckle or wisteria in your garden, or invading your space from a neighbor’s less-than-pristine back forty, harvest lengths of the vine, strip off any remaining leaves, and wind the pliable vines into a kissing ball, in the same way that you would roll up a ball of yarns. Secure with florist’s wire and decorate with some of those pinecones, acorns and fancy ribbons. One caveat—be sure of your vines’ identities. Do not try any of the above with something that you suspect might be poison ivy.
Pet owners and those with small children—either your own or the offspring of visiting friends and relatives–should make sure that any decorations with potentially toxic or swallowable components are well out of reach
Deck the Halls
So deck your halls with boughs of gardenalia. If inspiration falters, check out shelter magazines and online resources. You may not be able to muster quite the opulence of the spreads that you see in holiday decorating features, but you can still let loose your inner stylist.
