Most of us have more glittery Christmas balls and delicate ornaments than we'll ever hang on the tree or string across the fireplace mantel.
Rather than pack them away in the closet for another year, florist Joanne Plummer suggests using your favourites to create a festive arrangement for a sideboard or front entrance table.
"This is a nice way to display a favourite collection," says Plummer, who combined a handful of sparkling chartreuse balls with fresh greenery, cranberries and a trio of red candles in glass holders.
"The most challenging part is piling up the balls because they roll off."
Her advice is to make the arrangement on the designated table because the balls may roll off and break if you try to carry it from one spot to another.
Because of its height, Plummer says this arrangement is too high to use as a centrepiece on your holiday dinner table.
Instead, she recommends taking a shallow glass dish and filling it with fresh cranberries mixed with clear gel beads and topping it with floating candles and ruby-red rosebuds.
"It looks like fire and ice," says Plummer, adding, "It's so simple. You can do it in two minutes."
Here's how to make both arrangements:
BALLS & CANDLES
Materials
- Cake plate or flat-bottom bowl
- Fresh cranberries
- Double-sided tape (optional)
- Christmas ball ornaments
- Three candlesticks with taper candles
- Five flowers in water picks
- Greenery (white pine, spruce or cedar)
- Sprig of holly
- Gold ribbon
Steps
1. Fill bottom of plate or bowl with cranberries. They will act as a stabilizer for the arrangement.
2. Place three candleholders in centre of plate. If you're concerned about them toppling, add a piece of double-sided tape to the underside of each base.
3. Pile on your favourite coloured balls or glass ornaments. This can be tricky since the balls tend to roll off the heap.
4. Slide individual flowers in between the balls. Depending on the flowers you choose, they will have to be watered every day or every second day.
5. Tuck into place some seasonal greenery and tie a sprig of holly with a gold ribbon attached to the base of the tallest candle.
Total cost: less than $20 (for the fresh flowers, greenery and candles)
Completion time: 30 minutes
"FIRE & ICE" CENTREPIECE
Materials
- Shallow glass dish
- Expanding gel beads
- Water
- Fresh cranberries
- Two star-shaped floating candles
- Three red rosebuds (or a single large peony)
- Two sprigs of ivy or holly
Steps
1. Mix gel beads with water and blend with cranberries in bottom of the glass dish.
2. For balance, place the two floating candles on one side of the bowl and the three rosebuds on the other.
3. Weave a couple of sprigs of ivy or holly next to roses.
Total cost: less than $30 (excluding glass dish)
Completion time: two minutes.