Tapping into my retail background I have made some progress in coming up with fun Christmas decor ideas that are inexpensive, fast, but elegant. Happily, none of them involves a tree, ornaments or lights – yeah! It’s my pleasure to pass them on to you. If any attract you feel free to duplicate or better yet – improve upon it!
A few years back I decided I liked the smell of evergreens, but not all the expense, care and mess of a real tree. That year I gathered various evergreen branches (long & short needle, different textures like Juniper and Spruce) and placed them in a large glass hurricane vase with water and wrapped with a red velvet bow. On a server, mantel, counter or table it looked beautiful and smelled great.
One year I filled the same hurricane vase with tangerines and foil-wrapped Christmas hard candies. Wrapped with a bow and rimmed with candy canes, this too, smelled good and looked great. Also it didn’t need watering, the needles didn’t fall off and the tangerines could be offered to guests.
Last year I came across giant cinnamon sticks (about 12 inches each) and giant pine cones at the florist. I decided these would be great stuffed in the hurricane and accented with branches of bright berries. Again, great cinnamon smell and even better – no watering!
This year the cinnamon sticks and pine cones are on the mantel. A large velvet runner drapes the server. Gathering up the silver and glass candlesticks, glass bowls and votives that we almost never use, I arranged them on the runner. A menorah and a string of gold beads complete the display. It twinkles, sparkles and the tea lights are pine scented. Greeting cards are placed on a large platter on the dining table and a basket of berries on the door greets visitors. All of this took about 20 minutes and required no tree cutting. We reused and enjoy what we already have with minimal use of space. This is important in a small townhouse.
Fast, easy and festive. What will next year bring?
“You have your brush, you have your colors, you paint your paradise, then – in you go.” Nikos Kazantzakis
