Homemade Christmas Decorations

Posted on 21 Dec, 2007 6 comments

I decided that I ought to change the title for this one, the result was definitely not a homemade Christmas wreath even ‘decoration’ might be stretching it :o)

I started by removing all the thorns from the rose hip branches and trimming any branches which didn’t have nice red berries on them. Taking the thorns off took a while but I’m sure it would have been more painful to leave them on.

Trimmed and de-thorned rose hip

I start attaching holly to the thin end of the rose hip, intending to add layers of holly as I progressed. At this point the thin end (left in the picture) was still going to be the bottom of the decoration.

I left the holly leaves on at the ends of the branches and removed them further up so I could tie the holly to the rose hip. As I added more holly it got bushier and I wished I’d picked holly with straighter branches; the bent branches sent leaves off all over the shop.

The beginnings

I carried on tying about 6 branches of holly to the rose hip and it was getting more and more difficult (and painful) to attach the holly. I stopped to take a look at how it was progressing and where I wanted more holly. I noticed that hanging it the way I had intended would show the backs of the holly leaves, not the nice glossy fronts I wanted to be on display. It needed to be hung upside down!

Having already diverged quite a way from my original intent and with scratched hands I decided on an easy solution (cop out?).

We now have a very well tied together vase of holly – not what I had in mind to start with I’m afraid :(

Festive but not what I had in mind

So, not a roaring success, and a lot of effort to put some branches in a vase. Fortunately there are more creative members than me – check out Spritz’s blog about making a Christmas wreath from holly if you want to see how it should be done!

When I was going through the holly, I did find a half rotted leaf which I thought looked interesting.

Holly leaf skeleton

Happy Christmas :o)

Comments

Majeekahead

21 Dec, 2007

well done for trying Peter, i think your vase looks lovely, - you'll have to try it with a frame.... or frizby next year lol! seriously tho - if you want step by step instructions (as you proberly now gues - not quite as easy as you would think - but it is easy once you know how!) - and a few tips on how to avoid holly bites you know where to come!

Spritzhenry

21 Dec, 2007

Well, at least your decoration has some red berries! Sorry the wreath didn't work out but I do like the bouquet.

Peter

21 Dec, 2007

Thanks Spritz and Majeeka! I've hung a few baubels on it now and it's much more festive!!

David

23 Dec, 2007

I really enjoy looking at pics like this one of your rotted holly leaf. It shows just how intricate Nature is! I'm thinking (with just 2 days to go) of searching the site for such pics to use as a parlour guessing game for Xmas Day. I think it would be great fun! Thanx for giving me the idea!