The holidays are a time to celebrate family and friends, and what better way to do so than by getting together to create wonderful holiday decorations? Just as some families gather to bake Christmas cookies or trim the tree, your family can get creative by personalizing your holiday wreaths and floral arrangements.
The Pomeroy Daily Sentinel recently covered a Christmas show in Ohio that featured a contest for the best arrangement depicting a holiday story. More than 60 entrants were included in the show, which featured designs depicting the stories and legends of Christmas. A judge from the Ohio Association of Garden Clubs was on hand to judge the displays and hand out ribbons, many of which were given to children.
It may be fun to round up the kids this December and challenge them to create their own displays. Using natural materials, cheap flowers and a few items picked up from the craft store, they can go to town creating magical displays that will add plenty of originality and charm to your Christmas decor.
Perfect Entertaining has a couple of suggestions to help you and your loved ones get started. Remember that there are no rules to flower arranging - whatever suits your taste should work just fine. It's just the construction methods that should be followed closely.
You should always cut the stems of flowers with a sharp knife or a good pair of scissors to ensure that they don't get crushed. Help your children with this task to be safe. Remember to cut them at an angle, which will allow more surface area for the flowers to soak up water. Use rubber bands, ribbon or floral tape to bind your flowers together, and be sure to mix up the arrangement. Keep in mind that small flowers can get lost among larger ones - so you may want to group these together for a more noticeable effect.
Go outside to find plenty of inspiration for your displays. You can use leaves, twigs, berries and bark to create dazzling pieces. When you're looking for a container to put it in, don't think that you're confined to a vase. Other holders, like bowls, bottles or jars can work just as well and add an element of interest. Once you have your displays set up, be sure to keep them in a cool place where they won't get dried out, and change the water every so often to be sure that it doesn't get cloudy.