I think I’ve covered most of the Christmas bases over the
last few weeks. We’ve covered trees, houseplant gifts, outdoor colour, nuts and
vegetables. That leaves us with just two topics to complete the Christmas
festivities. How do decorate the dinner table and adorn the door with colour to
welcome visitors.
The Table
I like the idea of having colourful displays on a large
table and there are plenty of ideas out there. We tend to put a few candles
around the food dishes but they are very impractical and make reaching over the
table to pick up the bowl of sprouts a dangerous mission. It usually ends up
with someone getting scorched or at the very least singing their arm hairs.
Some candles are disguised as birch logs which look attractive even when unlit
and are a lot safer.
There are more practical things we can put on the table that
doesn’t need a health and safety warning. A few flowers go well in a centrepiece,
especially the red and white roses and amaryllis. If you can’t find anything to
suit try mixing some offcuts of pine twigs from the tree mixed with shiny
baubles or crackers. Holly is always a favourite, especially with the berries
in place. Dried orange segments go well and pine cones sprinkled with a bit of
glitter always impresses.
If you plan ahead you can get a wide array of fresh flowers
from the shops or get dried flowers to add to the displays, you can mix these
up with eucalyptus leaves or even some bay. We went to a wedding recently and
the place names were written on small stones in gold glue pen and looked very
pretty. This idea could be used but seeing as you’ll no doubt know everyone at
the table you could put Christmas messages on them. How about a small poem or
pearl of wisdom?
‘As green
sticks hissed and spat into the ashes
And whatever
rampaged out there couldn’t reach us,
Firelit,
shuttered, slated and stone-walled.’
Glanmore Revisited (Seamus Heaney)
Maybe I’ve gone a bit off topic here and I might start
suggesting we shovel in a few bags of fire ash around the placemats from the garden so I’ll
move on to door decorations.
The Door
Like our table, the door will be decorated mainly by things
we have growing in the garden. A simple wreath can be made from twisting thin
sprigs of willow together and then filling up with leylandii or Christmas tree
offcuts again and then mix in holly, ivy and anything else that’s colourful.
You can wire just about anything to the display to brighten it up. One of my
favourites this year has ornamental goldfish attached to various pinecones
sprayed white all wrapped around a heather stem circle. I’m not sure why it works;
it’s maybe because it’s something a bit different. Artificial berries can be
added too if you don’t have access to real ones. They last longer too and won’t
drop off and be trodden into the carpet as guests arrive.
The wreath doesn’t have to be round either. Try making a
star shape, it’s a bit more involved but can be a very dramatic piece. Try cineraria
for a real silver look if you have some in the garden, this plant would also
look well on the table centrepiece.
I’ve also seen quite a few wreaths made entirely from
baubles this year you and if you don’t have time to go into the garden and make
something up, this is always an option.
All that is left for me to do is to wish everyone a very
happy Christmas whatever you are doing. Remember if it all gets too much for
you with the comings and goings then there’s always the grass to cut. That
should at least get you outside for a while for a bit of peace and quiet. If
you don’t have family to entertain then there’s still grass that could do with
cutting.
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