Decorating in a traditional style for Christmas does not have to cost you a mint and the items you need are often items you have readily on hand. Consider the songs "Deck the Halls" or "The Holly and the IVY" ; both are traditional songs that we hear at Christmastime, both celebrate the garnishing of the home and hearth with natural drieds and items found around the homestead. They attest to the primitive way it had been done for centuries, when the women and children of the house would gather natural elements from outdoors and bring them in, arranging them with no florist training or artifice.
To create a garland, a grand table centerpiece or a mantle drape, you can start with your refrigerator or the produce isle at the grocery store. Gather up all colors of apples, cranberries, good oranges with out blemishes, pineapples, lemons pomegranates, pears and small tangerines. Next find an assortment of cinnamon sticks, whole walnuts and artichokes.
For your greens, finding them is as easy as going out in your back yard or on a walk through a park. The most common green used in early, traditional Christmas decoration was of course the pine tree sprig. Another modern favorite may be found right out in your landscaping: the boxwood shrub. Boxwood is a superb addition because like the pine bough, it stays fresh and green for a long time and dries beautifully over time. If you live in the southern climates, Magnolia leaves are a staple in Christmas decor as they are large, thick, round and also, like the pine and boxwood, they stay fresh and green looking for a long time and dry up nicely.
Look for pine cones, pieces of ivy, holly and large dried seedpods such as the milkweed or the cat tail. I like a variety of drieds to add visual interest and often the only thing that I order from my florist is Hypercum because it does not grow native here where I live.
To arrange your centerpiece or mantle drape, surprisingly, you don't often need all the fancy floral designing materials like picks and foam blocks, all you need is a flat plate to protect your table or mantle surface and to help you keep the arrangement centered. Start by laying the largest greens down and arranging them to lay flat. Here is where the Magnolia leaves are perfect, just simply lay them in a circle around the plate as they provide a perfect, visual base for the centerpiece. Next, set in the tallest item such as the pineapple. Arrange all of the medium size fruits and artichokes around it, laying them up against the pineapple in a circle. Then, fill in the spaces around the fruits with small clippings of the greens, the nuts, the cinnamon sticks and anything else that is small that you may have found. The possibilities for decorating your home are endless. You can put a sprig of holly tied with a strand of cheesecloth in little nooks all around your home, or you can arrange pine boughs all across your mantle and sprinkle in your fruits, cinnamon and nuts.
Many times in early America, housewives would sun dry their fruit for future consumption. It became a holiday tradition somewhere along the line to string the fruits on yarn in order to create a garland. Several versions of history have been passed down to us regarding these traditions, one being that to dry the fruit, the women would often times slice it up and string it to hang before the hearth to aid in the drying. It became a symbol of plenty over time and therefore the dried fruit garland soon found it's way into our traditional Christmas decor just like the cornucopia became a symbol of plenty for autumn.
For stringing garland, I love to slice apples and oranges and dry them in the sun or sometimes in the oven. I also dry cranberries in the same way to string them. /when slicing apples, cut the fruit crosswise and discard the ends. Do the same with your oranges. Cut the fruit slices approximately 1/4 inch thick and dip the apple pieces in lemon juice to prevent browning. Arrange the pieces all on a cake drying rack and place in the oven for 6 hours on 175 degrees. I turn the fruit pieces every hour.
When done, it's as simple as threading a needle with a heavy duty thread and stringing all of the pieces on. I mix in Sweet Annie, sage, dried cranberries and cinnamon sticks.
The great thing too about all of the little left overs; the dried orange and apple slices, the dried cranberries, and the left over sprigs of greens....they make an amazing potporri to toss in a decorative bowl. I arrange these mixtures and spray a fragrance oil on them to make the room smell great.
To arrange your centerpiece or mantle drape, surprisingly, you don't often need all the fancy floral designing materials like picks and foam blocks, all you need is a flat plate to protect your table or mantle surface and to help you keep the arrangement centered. Start by laying the largest greens down and arranging them to lay flat. Here is where the Magnolia leaves are perfect, just simply lay them in a circle around the plate as they provide a perfect, visual base for the centerpiece. Next, set in the tallest item such as the pineapple. Arrange all of the medium size fruits and artichokes around it, laying them up against the pineapple in a circle. Then, fill in the spaces around the fruits with small clippings of the greens, the nuts, the cinnamon sticks and anything else that is small that you may have found. The possibilities for decorating your home are endless. You can put a sprig of holly tied with a strand of cheesecloth in little nooks all around your home, or you can arrange pine boughs all across your mantle and sprinkle in your fruits, cinnamon and nuts.
Many times in early America, housewives would sun dry their fruit for future consumption. It became a holiday tradition somewhere along the line to string the fruits on yarn in order to create a garland. Several versions of history have been passed down to us regarding these traditions, one being that to dry the fruit, the women would often times slice it up and string it to hang before the hearth to aid in the drying. It became a symbol of plenty over time and therefore the dried fruit garland soon found it's way into our traditional Christmas decor just like the cornucopia became a symbol of plenty for autumn.For stringing garland, I love to slice apples and oranges and dry them in the sun or sometimes in the oven. I also dry cranberries in the same way to string them. /when slicing apples, cut the fruit crosswise and discard the ends. Do the same with your oranges. Cut the fruit slices approximately 1/4 inch thick and dip the apple pieces in lemon juice to prevent browning. Arrange the pieces all on a cake drying rack and place in the oven for 6 hours on 175 degrees. I turn the fruit pieces every hour.
When done, it's as simple as threading a needle with a heavy duty thread and stringing all of the pieces on. I mix in Sweet Annie, sage, dried cranberries and cinnamon sticks.
The great thing too about all of the little left overs; the dried orange and apple slices, the dried cranberries, and the left over sprigs of greens....they make an amazing potporri to toss in a decorative bowl. I arrange these mixtures and spray a fragrance oil on them to make the room smell great.
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