She invited her mother to come and help us create these beautiful arrangements. None if us had ever done something like this before. Every arrangement was unique, and we all did a fantastic job. The method could not be any simpler, and there is no wrong way to do it.
I remember my mom used to do things like this ages age, and it seemed to fall out of favour, or she decided to do other things. Remember those green foam blocks for flower arrangements? You use them, along with some tree branches, cones, plant sticks, wire, and ribbon, to make your own Christmas arrangement. And, you do not have to spend very much money, or time, if you already have the stuff handy.
If you know this is something you are interested in doing, you might want to start collecting the pine cones in the late summer, early fall, because you will be hard pressed to find any under the snow. On your nature hikes, bring a bag, and collect whatever you like. You can even collect some woody stemmed weeds, and dry them for later use. As for the branches, you could get cut evergreen branches from a greenhouse, but why would you spend your hard earned money when you can prune some branches outside, for free? Especially, when you live so close to nature, like us in Sudbury.
Be careful where you go, as there might be laws about cutting trees. Just do not completely hack the trees. Snip a branch here, and a branch there. They do not need to be very long. And, do not snip the top off of smaller trees. Trees grow from the top, and snipping it, encourages the branches to grow more, and you'll end up with a stunted bushy tree.
For our arrangements, we used Red Pine, White Pine, Juniper, and Cedar. Pines have nice long needles, in bunches, and the branches often fan out, so it works really well as the base of the arrangement. White Pine has a more feathery appearance. You could use some Fir or Spruce branches, but you would need more of them to fill in the arrangement. The Cedar, and Juniper were used as accents.
We were lucky enough to have a base cut from a birch tree with a pretty, plastic bowl glued to it. You can always start your arrangement in a margarine container. The green foam blocks are sold at the dollar store in a three pack. Put one in the margarine container, and cut the plastic down, so the foam is exposed. The container is to contain the water, as you need to soak the foam first.
Stick the pine branches into the lower part of the middle of each vertical side of the block, on all four sides. Try to make sure the branches are not too long, and do not stick them too far into the foam, as this will make it difficult to put other branches in later. After you have done the four sides, stick branches in the corners. You will be adding eight branches, two on each side of the corner. Then, you work your way up the block. I only used two layers, and filled in the gaps after. The upper layer should have shorter branches.
When you are satisfied with the sides of your arrangement, add branches to the top of your block. You can pick branches with a bit of a curve to them, if you would like to round out the design. I used about 12 branches on the top. I used straighter one in the middle of the top face of the block. Then, you start adding your accent branches, here and there. We were told cedar usually goes on the bottom. The juniper branches were longer, and spikier, so I used them on top.
We added some cones, ornaments, and ribbon, all twisted around green sticks, with some wire. The ribbon had wire in it to keep its shape, and you need to round it out, for a fuller look. When the arrangements were finished, we sprayed them with a little artificial snow, and, voilà, your own personally designed arrangement for much less than what they charge in the stores.
You can use to same materials to spruce up you flower pots in you yard too. So, have at it, and be your own decorator!
 |
| That's right, it says Happy Holidays! |
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment