Adventures in Christmas Decorating with Fresh from the Garden Evergreens

I have been one busy little bee this holiday season. The past few weekends have been loaded with Christmas decorating activities. I normally never start decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving, but I have just been so busy this year that I had to start early. I started making my own fresh evergreen decorations using evergreen clippings from my own garden a few years ago & while it’s always worth it, it’s still a lot of work. So, this year I got a head start & constructed most of my fresh arrangements last month. Keep on reading to see what I’ve been up to.

Christmas wreaths were the first fresh holiday decorations that I have ever made. I saw Laura from Garden Answer make a wreath using evergreens from her garden & holiday me has never been the same ever since. She just made wreath-making look so easy. Turns out, it is really easy to make your own wreaths (check out my wreath-making tutorial)! I made four wreaths this year using evergreens, berried branches & dried celosia flowers from my own plants. I also jazzed them up a bit with Christmas ornaments, tartan bows & Christmas lights (solar & battery operated). The great thing about making your own wreaths is that it costs practically nothing. All you need to buy is a wreath form & floral wire, as long as you already have the evergreens. The wreath forms are reusable too, so for the past few years all I’ve purchased is one floral wire a year. You can’t beat that!

Up next was Christmas garland-making. I ended up making it very late on Black Friday, which ended up being not so great of an idea. That day was jam-packed busy for me. I wanted to get all of my greenery finished so I could get to regular Christmas decorating the next day, but I started so late that I didn’t finish until well after midnight. I did get the garland done though, even if it did feel like it would never end. Garlands are a little bit more of a challenge than wreaths, at least for me (check out my Christmas garland tutorial). The base of a garland is typically twine & not a solid wreath form, therefore it always gets a little hairy scary lifting onto the mantle once it is finished. My garland did end up taking a scary tumble off said mantle & I had to pop in a few more evergreen bundles as a result, but it ended up looking exactly the way that I envisioned it would. I weaved a few leftover ribbons that I had into the garland & popped in pine cones & metal cardinals too. While I love the look of solid winter greens, I just can’t help adding pops of red. ‘Tis the season & all.

My final winter greens project was & always is porch pots. Christmas porch pots are by far the easiest holiday decorations to make. They’re so easy that I save them for last as a reward for getting through all the rest of my greenery projects. I also have a Christmas porch pot tutorial for you to gander at, but really all you do is pop sticks into planter pots. I usually use evergreens, dried hydrangeas & branches from my trees (the bigger the better). This year, I was able to add in allium seedheads that I dried & spray painted red. I saw the same exact product at my local gardening center for $5 each last year & was inspired to make my own this year. I’m so happy that I did, because it’s those pops of red that helps pull the whole thing together. I added my usual assortment of Christmas ornaments, tartan bows & solar Christmas lights. Grand total: $0. I just reused all of the same decorations from last year & that makes me happy.

That was it for my fresh Christmas décor. I also decorated the rest of the outside & inside of my house with items that I didn’t make myself, which is a feat in itself. I am not a fan of putting up the decorations, especially after making all of that greenery, but I love looking at them once they are up. It takes me quite a bit of time & effort to get everything to look just right, but I can’t imagine this season without all of my decorations. I still have to decorate a gingerbread house (you know it will be garden-themed), add in a few more ornaments to my tree & switch out subpar solar lights for new ones before I’m completely finished, but the bulk of it is over. I hope this inspired you to make your own Christmas greens! It’s easier than you think (just don’t wait to start it until 11:00 pm! Happy holidays!