Our house is on the old side, low ceilings and lots of beams, a Christmas decorators dream; I can bang in nails where I like, they’re barley visible so can be left for the following year. This is our second Christmas in this home, last year we were still renovating so festive decor was minimal, I’ve made up for it this year. After foraging in the garden I returned enthusiastically with mounds of holly with genuine berries on (a first for me), Ivy and various sprigs of evergreen foliage including, rosemary, bay, olive and garrya. I lay the yule tide foliage out on the dining table and started placing it into various receptacles, most sourced from charity shops for a few pence, then painted a neutral dark grey colour leftover from a tester paint pot. Below are a few of my Christmas creations.
An arrangement in our porch to complement the wreath on the front door
A candle decoration
Flower pot candles, great gifts to make for gardeners
Flower pot candles close up
It was not all plain sailing, my plan was to make a simple garland to adorn our fire place and the image of what I wanted was in my head, but, the practicalities of achieving it was not! The husband would quip that there was nothing new there. The obstacle I encountered is that I have no mantle piece and nothing to place or attach the garland to. See picture below.
A picture to show the lack of mantle and christmas garland hanging space!
So my problem solving ingenuity (husband would say haphazard, bodge it, incompetence) came to the fore. There is a thin lip (less than a cm) of the bressumer beam that sticks out before the brick work. I thought if I banged a nail into this lip, I could hang a water tight receptacle filled with Oasis to the nail. Inspiration struck, I chopped up a drinks bottle with an additional tag which could be folded, hole inserted into it and hung from the nail.
The garland invention
I then painted the cut off drinks bottle with my dark grey paint.
Painted in a muted background colour
Once the paint was dry I filled the bottle with soaked oasis, and hung it off my carefully hammered in nail. I then started to place the foliage into the bottle, being careful to keep in balanced.
The first sprigs to be placed into the bottle
The end result is just what I wanted, a simple, natural garland from the garden.
The finished garland, a simple but festive effect
The after shot, and it’s yet to fall down!