This holiday season I was inspired to simplify and decorate the inside of our home using the beauty of the outdoors. We are fortunate to have several evergreens on our property and it was easy enough to cut a few branches for holiday decorations.
First, I decorated two beautiful lanterns that lend themselves to many decorating projects. Let me show you how I decorated these.
Step 1
Gather and lay out the evergreens (from bottom left: English Holly, Eastern White Pine, Eastern Hemlock, Boxwood, and Golden Lace Juniper). Further down in the blog you can see each tree or shrub from which these branches originated and the names of each. It’s important to note that the evergreen will dry out similar to a Christmas tree. Try to place what you decorate out of the way of being brushed up against.
Step 2
Wrap each of the candles in battery operated LED Microlights, put the candle in the lantern and then place the greenery around the candle.
Step 3
Next, I created a decoration for the top of the lantern by layering evergreen branches (Golden Lace Juniper, English Holly) along with some decorations and a ribbon. Then, I used floral wire to secure each branch and a glue gun for the pine cones. Leave one wire long enough to attach the decoration to the top of the lantern. Beautiful!
After I completed the lanterns, I thought it would be fun to decorate a few more items around the house. I followed the same practice of using floral wire and glue as necessary.
Finally, I also discovered a clever way to decorate a store-bought wreath by following the same principle of leveraging the evergreens around the wreath.
Here are the evergreens that I used. The Eastern Hemlock stayed the least brittle while the Eastern White Pine became the most brittle over the course of a couple of weeks. Enjoy making your own holiday decorations.
For some additional ideas on holiday decorations, check out these posts:
English Holly
Ilex aquifolium (Genus/Species)
Eastern Hemlock
Pinus strobus (Genus/Species)
Boxwood
Buxus sempervirens (Genus/Species)
Eastern White Pine
Pinus strobus (Genus/Species)
Golden Lace Juniper
Juniperus chinensis (Genus/Species)
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