1. Measure the length of your longest leaf and cut your tape to double that (Sandy’s are approximately two inches long). Peel off the paper backing, place cut tape sticky side up.
2. Place wire in the center of the tape, half way up the length, leaving at least an inch of wire sitting outside of the tape.
3. Fold the tape over at its half-way point, sandwiching in the wire.
4. Place a leaf over the folded tape, align the midrib of the leaf with the wire.
5. Trace around the leaf with a pencil.
6. Cut out the leaf.
7. Take a walk and find a fallen branch!
8. Tie the leaf to the branch by winding the wire around it.
Above: Give the leaves a natural curl and they’re reading for hanging. Above: Sandy’s instructional diagram.
The Finished Results
Above: Oak leaves work especially well—their shapes are lovely, instantly recognizable, and easy to trace. Above: Shining in the light.
Making your own holiday wreath involves four good things: a brisk walk; a gathering of invasive plants like privet, multiflora roses, and bittersweet; a conversation—if you are brave—with a neighbor you have never met (in my case recently, this involved a trade of holly branches for me and a bottle of homemade elderberry cordial for them); and, finally, about two hours of focused attention on crafting and creativity. It is occupational therapy at its finest. Plus (five good things!) a really attractive wreath that will last for a month or more. Oh, and (six): Making your own wreath costs next to nothing.
Here are some of the plants you can use, and the minimal equipment you will need to make your own wreath at home.
Above: Our finished wreath on a wall.
1. Gather your materials.
The most effective wreath features plants that stay fresh-looking for weeks. Combining evergreens with winter berries and fruits guarantees long-lasting decoration. The plants can be foraged, if they are invasive, trimmed from your own garden, begged from your friendly neighbors, and bought from local tree vendors. You can also use trimming from your Christmas tree.
For color in a winter wreath, nothing beats rosehips. I take this opportunity to gather as many sprays of very invasive Rosa multiflora hips as I can find. Privet fruit is at its peak in early winter, and can be collected with a clear conscience, too. Holly, juniper, cedar, pine, fir and spruce are all good options for greenery.
In addition, you will need secateurs for cutting branches, gloves for sharp thorns, and, at home, florists’ wire for easy attachment. (A 22-gauge floral wire is easy to use and very strong.)
Above left: Multiflora hips. Above right: Gloves are helpful when you work with holly, the prettiest and prickliest. Above: The stems of mugwort make a very good wreath frame.
Longtime readers will recall the holiday decor we’ve admired in years past: low-cost, last-minute, zero-waste, and more. This year, we’ve been spotting festive displays beyond the usual; here are five inspired takes we’ve bookmarked.
Welcome to The Editors’ Cut, our monthly column dedicated to beautiful and useful finds for all over the house. In this installment: Folded-paper stars, painted baubles, delicate blown glass designs—there’s a bevy of tiny, intricately made ornaments out there, and we’re easily wooed by them all. But this year, we noticed one common thread amongst the decor we’re admiring lately: flora, fauna, fish, and fruits, immortalized in shiny brass and pressed tin. Have a look. — The R/G Editors
Hare and Stag
Above: A stately stag or a sprightly rabbit? We could be swayed by either one. Shop now.
Fish
Above: We have a thing for fish motifs—and this polished-brass ornament comes engraved with a wish (“Bona fortuna et amor,” Latin for “Good luck and love”). Shop now.
Pear
Above: Hand-cut, with a hand-hammered edge and colorful tassel, this pear ornament reminds us of the fancy gilded pears that come in gift boxes (but it lasts much longer). Shop now.
Dove and Mistletoe
Above L: A sweet embossed dove with a colorful twist: a bright ribbon loop. Shop now. Above R: December’s most romantic greenery, but make it minimalist. Shop now.
Bird
Above: Made from solid brass, Fog Linen’s simple bird can be hung in a window all year long. Shop now.
Holly Leaves
Above: These pretty, subtly festive brass leaves add a wink of gold to the tree. Shop now.
Moon
Above: And from artist Megan Fatharly, a wise crescent moon to watch over the end of the year. Shop now.
It happens to the best of us. One year, you put up a wreath, maybe surround the front door with twinkly lights. But then, year by year, as more of your neighbors spend thousands of dollars to do up their house Griswold-style for the holidays, you find yourself feeling the pressure to up your game. Maybe you should add lights to the tree in your front yard? Or, gasp, an inflatable Santa? Or maybe you should just surrender to the go-for-broke trend and outsource the decorating to professionals?
Resist. There is priceless beauty in humble DIY holiday decorations. Let this story be a visual palate cleanser—and a reminder that it’s hard to beat the simple and natural. Here, 10 brilliant ideas for easy holiday curb appeal. No risking of life (or going into debt) necessary.
Go evergreen.
Above: Granted, Todd Carr and Carter Harrington, of Hort & Pott in Freehold, NY, are professional makers and designers, but we think anyone can add charm to the front door with a collection of evergreens—the more, the merrier. Photograph courtesy of Hort & Pott, from Shopper’s Diary: A Botanical ‘Speakeasy’ in Freehold, New York.
Above: Crabapple tree branches surround the festive front door of furniture designer Maria Le Mesurier’s home. “I particularly like them in the winter time as the branches are covered with lichen,” she says. Photography by Maria Le Mesurier, from The Foraged Holiday: Found Decor in Designer Maria le Mesurier’s Home.
Craft some spruce ornaments.
Above: Instead of the traditional wreath, consider hanging these cherry all-natural DIY ornaments on the front door instead. Photograph courtesy of Sayuki Ueno and Kentaro Manabe, from DIY Holiday Decor: Snowflakes of Spruce, from Japan.
Surfaced from the archives: a favorite DIY, which originally ran on Remodelista in April 2020:
Like so many of us, Anthony Watson and Benoît Rauzy of Atelier Vime are finding reassurance and inspiration right now in nature. The couple make and sell some of France’s loveliest rattan furniture, new and vintage: see Rattan Revival. They’re currently at work on their next collection while “in containment in our farmhouse on the west coast of France.”
Via Instagram, Julie and I fell in love with Anthony’s latest household improvement: a pine bough door surround for their already extraordinary-looking home office. Anthony told us how he made it.
Above: It all started with a beloved 100-year-old pine tree in their garden with some pinecone-covered dead branches that needed clearing. Above: “I saved the curving branches—I love their lines,” says Anthony. “I put them on the floor and made several testings to find the most harmonious arrangement. Then I attached them around the door with nails and cords.”
Winding nature motifs continue in the room on the kilim and the antique Moroccan suzani.
Above: Anthony finished the frame with additional clusters of pine cones tied with twine. The results: rakishly chic, no?
Also note the wall curtain: that, too, was a DIY. Anthony made it out of “some old thick cotton fabric found in the attic. I painted it a strong yellow that was in the workshop here, and draped it with little nails. It’s inspired by French Empire fabric wall coverings adapted to the style of this humble country house.”
Some other favorite DIYs made from natural supplies (go to our DIY archive for many more):
When it comes to Halloween, we are pro-DIY, pro-using-what-you-have. We’re not going to judge you if have some plastic skeletons in your closet, but wouldn’t it be better if you simply shopped your yard for something spooky? Or scrounged your utility closet for a witchy decoration? Or tapped into your imagination for some creative crafting? […]
Alliums may well be the jewels of the summer garden, springing into flower from early in the season and then standing with their ornate seedheads for many months more. But harvest them before winter sets in, and you’ll have exquisite jewels to decorate for the holidays, too. We take a closer look at these mesmerizing forms and ways to use them.
Above: In summer at just over a foot tall, Allium christophii is short enough to nestle in amongst low-growing perennials and grasses, and they look stunning with swaying tufts of Stipa tenuissima and spires of verbascums, as seen here at Beth Chatto’s dry garden in Essex, U.K.
The most familiar allium to many gardeners will be A. hollandicum ‘Purple Sensation’. The ever popular spring bulbs are often planted in swathes to produce a sea of rich color in midsummer. While these heads will dry well, they won’t have the impact of the supersize A. christophii, which produces huge heads with metallic mauve flowers.
Above: The allium’s star shaped seedheads are beautiful when left bare.
For many gardeners these seedheads provide useful structure in borders long after flowering. But ideally, to keep them in perfect form, remove them from the garden sometime in late summer and then stand or hang them to preserve their shape.
Above: In the my kitchen, heads of alliums are arranged through a framework of branches or in pots. The branches are illuminated with copper wired microlights, £4.99, Lights4Fun.
Once dried, the seedheads can be used in different ways. Create a structure using birch or hazel branches, perhaps arching around a window. Secure the main branches firmly to the wall (a hook will support the key branches) and then weave microlights around them. The featherlight allium balls can be placed carefully between branches where they won’t need any further support.
In his book The Flower Yard, Arthur Parkinson suggests cutting the stems down to a couple of inches and threading with wire, a delicate operation but one that results in giant baubles. “They can then be hung from the ceiling,” says Parkinson. “Golden stars floating in mid-air. They look especially beautiful en masse, hanging at different heights above a table.”
Above: Arthur Parkinson combines dried alliums with dried hydrangea, honesty and a colorful aviary of glass songbirds. Photograph by Arthur Parkinson. Above: A bowl of paperwhite narcissi provide a scented contrast to branches and seedheads. Above: Perfect seedheads sprayed gold can be stored and used for several years. Photograph by Arthur Parkinson.
We’ve been noting the slow rise of sparse-chic, Charlie Brown-style Christmas trees in the homes of trendsetters the past few years. But these versions—large, artful, completely foliage-free branches decorated with colorful ornaments and lights—may be the sparsest and chicest of all (not to mention most eco-conscious).
We spotted the festive branches on designer Amy Ilias’ Instagram account recently and reached out to learn the what, why, and how behind her arresting holiday decor. Read on to find out how to make your own.
Photography by Amy Ilias.
Above: Amy and her husband, artist Jim Denney, started the tradition of the holiday branch back in 2010. Their first “was a large branch that Jim C-clamped to our dining table in Brooklyn. It was very humble, kind of sad, and very much inspired by Charlie Brown’s tree. It was a way of re-entering festivity after a long and difficult personal stretch,” shares Amy. After moving into a large Victorian in the Hudson Valley (see the house tour here), they transitioned to much larger, free-standing branches.
Above: The branches are each secured to planks of wood with long screws. Large stones weigh down the planks. “During the Covid pandemic, we had a tradition: Jim would read to me while I did jigsaw puzzles at the coffee table. It was around the holidays, and he was reading Richard Power’s beautiful book The Overstory [a novel about trees and the interconnectedness of everything]. It was that reading, and listening to Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Fir Tree” for the millionth time on NPR that made my decision to commit to fallen branches,” says Amy.
Above: Amy decorates the branches with colorful ornaments, beads, and, of course, string lights.
Above: Pictured on the left are the branches they foraged for the 2021 holidays. Pictured on the right is where they found those branches that year: in a brush pile next to a parking lot near their home. “We have a very small car, so our parameter is that we need to be able to carry it home,” says Amy. “The other is that it needs to be fallen. We usually find the branches in brush piles on vacant lots. Maybe someday we will get an old pickup and our range will expand.”
Above: A few days after we connected with Amy about her branches, they came crashing down, likely from one of the couple’s three overzealous cats. Curiosity killed the Christmas branch. “A bunch of ornament and branch casualties. Practicing non attachment,” she wrote on Instagram.
“We’re kind of a speakeasy shop,” says Todd Carr, describing Hort & Pott, the store he co-owns with his partner Carter Harrington. It’s an apt description for their unique, appointment-only shopping destination located in Freehold, New York, about 20 minutes west of Hudson. Filled primarily with handmade and vintage finds for the home and garden, the botanically focused shop is currently dressed up for the holidays. “It’s more like an event when people come. We have candles lit in the shop, there’s music playing and incense burning, and we have the fires going,” Carr says.
Carr and Harrington came to retail after careers as a garden editor and an interior/window display designer, respectively, when they moved out of New York City in 2016. Hort & Pott’s current location is the latest iteration of a business that has evolved over several years. Hort & Pott, short for horticulture and pottery, began as a series of pop-ups and later a more permanent installation in a barn in Oak Hill, New York. The newest shop is situated in a 1920 boarding house on a former dairy farm that the couple purchased in early 2020 and are slowly fixing up.
Above: Carr and Harrington hand-make many of items carried in the store, including seasonal wreaths and artful cement planters. Photograph by Mia Allen, courtesy of Hort & Pott.
Hort & Pott’s business model is to open for four consecutive weekends during the Hudson Valley’s peak tourism seasons; then Carr and Harrington close up shop for a few weeks before the next four-week stretch. This unusual calendar is necessary because so much of their inventory is handmade and vintage that they need time to both source and make the products, like the seasonal wreaths ($100 to $200) and ornaments ($10 to $30) currently for sale. “We shut down and basically create new pieces and new displays for the next openings,” says Carr. The couple also stock items from other Hudson Valley artisans, like Laurel and Ash maple syrup, which is made by friends.
For 2023, Hort & Pott has also opened an online shop, which Harrington is gradually building up. “It’s a distilled version of what we have in the shop,” he says. But for the full experience—which in December includes hot apple cider, a fire in the outdoor firepit, and more candles than you can count—you’ll want to book a time slot to see the shop in-person (this weekend is the last one they’ll be open in 2023). Reservations are booked online on the half hour. “It’s very loose, too. It’s just meant to kind of help space people out, so it doesn’t become too crazy in the shop,” says Carter.
Occasionally something stops us in our tracks on Instagram. And so it was on an icy late November evening when we spied Anna Potter’s enormous wreath of dried grasses, hydrangeas, rosehips, and iridescent lunaria seedpods. Destined for a local café in Sheffield where the floral designer’s store, Swallows & Damsons is based, the wreath was a supersize reminder of how effective grasses can be in a festive design.
For Potter, using dried materials in wreaths is an opportunity to create movement and structure. But it also reflects shifting attitudes about the winter garden, in which the dried grasses, exposed seedpods, and faded stems are celebrated rather than consigned to the compost heap. “There’s so much beauty to be found,” says Potter. “Overlooked tangled vines, weathered seed heads and grasses are so wonderful to weave with and can be combined to create unexpectedly ethereal sculptures.”
This new style of everlasting wreath is staging a challenge to traditional foliage and evergreens, replacing fir and holly with burnished golden grasses and wildflowers. Here are a few of our favorites.
Above: Potter’s wreath uses a custom-made 4.5 ft forged steel hoop, which is recycled seasonally as the design and ingredients change. Here, she has used long stems of pampas grass and bear grass to create sculptural, swirling tails and loops. Pennisetum, panicum, as well as different varieties of dried hydrangea add additional texture while hips and lunaria bring contrast. Photograph courtesy of Anna Potter.
Above: Nikki Kuwayama of California-based studio Velvet Curation Co—which sells dried foliage and flowers— uses dried grass to create similar swirls in this wreath design, adding color with branches of asparagus fern, red berries, and dried cress stems. Her asymmetric design is built onto a simple vine base. Photograph courtesy of Nikki Kuwayama.
Above: Kitten Grayson’s Christmas shop has Zingara flower baubles as well as exquisite wreaths, including the pictured Meadow Mountain design. Available in three sizes (from £120), each on a wicker base, the wreath combines delicate bracken fronds with birch twigs, wild clematis, statice, and strawflowers to echo the soft burnished colors of a winter woodland. Photograph by Hana Snow.
Above: Dried flower guru and author of Everlastings Bex Partridge has given her collection of seasonal wreaths enigmatic names, including the “Bones of Winter” and the pictured “Wild Wreath” (both from £75), which uses curling grasses along with nicandra seedheads and dried Ammobium alutum. Partridge has also authored an e-guide to a natural Christmas, downloadable from her online store, Botanical Tales. Photograph courtesy of Bex Partridge.
Above: Gather your wreath materials on a weekend walk. Studio Mim’s wild woodland wreath uses a vine base topped with bracken fronds, wild clematis seedheads, and dried beech leaves along with a contrasting, crumpled silk ribbon. Photograph courtesy of Studio Mim.
Above: Jade Schol is the Wiltshire-based designer behind Arie and Vine’s ethereal installations, including botanical clouds of light-as-feather ferns and wreaths named after Santa’s reindeer. The Comet, pictured, combines bracken with asparagus fern, pampas grass, lunaria, statice, and foraged stems and is finished with velvet and satin ribbons. Photograph courtesy of Jade Schol.
Above: In autumn, shrubs sport all color of berries. Branches with green leaves and colorful berries make pretty garlands. In my Northern California neighborhood, there are lots of orange bittersweet berries, black privet berries, and purple privet berries. Other berries to look for: purple beautyberry and orange winterberry. (See What’s that Berry? Test Your Knowledge of Fall’s Red Fruits.)
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Above: Before arranging foraged finds, rinse them–extremely well–in the kitchen sink. Bugs are not welcome at the dinner table.
The Look
Above: I used garden twine to tie a sprig to each napkin. You can also get fancier and make a tiny bundled bouquet for each guest’s napkin. See how at Botanical Napkin Rings for Thanksgiving.
Above: I like a big napkin, preferably made of soft linen because the fabric drapes beautifully and absorbs spilled wine better than cotton.
Available in nearly two dozen colors, 22-inch-square linen napkins from Hudson Grace are washable and can be tumbled dry (and if you pull them out of the dryer while they’re still warm, you won’t need to iron them–they fold beautifully). Hand-dyed in San Francisco, the napkins are $18 apiece.
Above: To assemble the floral arrangement, I laid a linen runner down the center of the table. The fabric defines the boundaries of the floral arrangement (a helpful visual cue for when you don’t use a vase or other vessel).
Next, I laid a line of smoke bush branches down the middle of the table runner. Into them I tucked shorter lengths of privet, allowing the smoke bush leaves to cup clusters of privet berries. For extra drama, I tucked one hydrangea bloom into each end of the free-form garland.
Above: I placed the napkins on top of the plates to add some height to edge of the table and offset the bulk of the foraged floral arrangement. This prevents the table from looking like it has a big, impenetrable hedge in the middle of it.
Above: I wanted the table to contradict itself, to look glamorous and casual at the same time. So I skipped the tablecloth this year and instead relied on the runner to create a painterly frame around the florals.
The Day After
Above: After you disassemble the tabletop arrangement, turn the water pitcher into a vase with a sprig of long-lasting berries.
We’re feeling thankful. See:
N.B.: This post was first published November 2017.
If picking out a fresh Christmas tree is a yearly tradition for your family, make sure you get the right one! They all might look similar at first glance, but some are better suited for different reasons. Here are some of the best types of Christmas trees and how to pick the BEST one for your family.
What makes the best Christmas tree? Having sold fresh-cut Christmas trees for many years, I can attest to the old adage that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
In truth, your best type of Christmas tree may look vastly different from someone else’s. Size, shape, branch density, needle length, colour, and fragrance are some personal preferences that will play into the final decision.
For many of us, there is a specific tree species that just “smells like Christmas” because we grew up with that type.
But if you’re looking for the name of your favourite tree or want to experiment this year, here are some of the best types of Christmas trees to consider.
In this article, we will cover:
Visiting a Christmas tree farm and cutting down a tree yourself is a must-try experience.
How to Pick the Best Type of Christmas Tree
Each tree species has certain characteristics that have made it popular. Whether it’s the rigidity of the branch tips, how well it retains its needles, or a striking fragrance, each variety has something special to offer.
Within a single species, pruning affects the overall shape and branch density: natural growth tends to be more open, frequent shearing leads to dense branches.
When looking at the different types of Christmas trees, you can keep a lookout for a few things:
Fresh trees should not be losing many needles. You can test this by tapping the tree on the ground and seeing how many needles fall off. Alternatively, you can pull along a branch. Only a few needles should come loose.
Sickness or decay. The tree should not smell musty or have any kind of spots. This could indicate that the tree was cut while sick or cut too long ago.
Height and width. Measure your Christmas tree to ensure that it will fit inside your home. Bring along a measuring tape, and be sure to measure before you head to the Christmas tree lot, too.
Test needle retention before buying a Christmas tree.
The Different Types of Christmas Trees
There are many different types of trees that are commonly sold as Christmas trees.
While I don’t have pictures of all of them, I highly recommend you bring along with you a plant identification app in case the trees aren’t labelled. I have listed my favourite and most reliable apps here, to help you identify what types of Christmas trees you’re working with.
When you’re out shopping, keep an eye out for these names. Here are some of the best types of Christmas trees and what you need to know about each.
1. Fraser Fir
This is the most popular fresh Christmas tree in North America. They’re extremely hardy, and Canadian tree farmers ship them all over the world. Its needles are ½ to 1 inch long, dark green above and blue-green beneath. Needle retention is excellent, and the scent is pleasantly sweet and slightly pungent.
Fraser fir identifiers:
More slender shape
Slightly upturned branches
Shorter needles ½ to 1 inch long
Dark green needles with blue-green bottoms
You can see Fraser Fir branches used in this project, where I made a candle wreath as a holiday centrepiece.
2. Noble Fir
The noble fir, with its rigid branches, is a fantastic choice for heavy ornaments. Its branches grow in whorls around the trunk, giving it a “tiered” effect. The upturned needles show both the medium-green surface colour and blue-green underside.
Noble fir identifiers:
Blue-green needles with white bands on the side
Pale grey to purplish bark
Large upright pine cones
Rigid branches
3. Douglas Fir
Don’t let the name fool you! A Douglas fir is actually a type of pine tree. Douglas fir is grown and shipped all over North America. The 1-1.5 inch dark green, soft needles radiate in all directions from the stem, giving it a full appearance. The needle retention is less than other trees, but it is also usually a less costly tree.
Douglas fir identifiers:
Classic Christmas tree scent
Heavier branches
Dark green needles that point in all directions
Softer needles compared to spruce
Pointy, papery, reddish-brown buds
Kiddo posing with a Douglas Fir that needs a few more years before it can become a Christmas tree.
4. Balsam Fir
Needles are dark green, ¾ to 1.5 inches long, and last a long time. They’re easy to decorate but may not hold heavy ornaments well. The scent of the crushed needles is very pleasant, lasting throughout the holiday season. It’s one of the most popular options in Canada, being the top Christmas tree in Quebec and New Brunswick’s official tree.
Balsam fir identifiers:
Flat needs with white bands on the underside
Dark green needles
Narrow and pointed crown
Thin grey, smooth bark with resin blisters
5. Grand Fir
This type of tree is darker green with flat needles. It’s softer to the touch than other trees, so it’s pleasant to decorate!
Grand fir identifiers:
Citrus-like scent
Lighter branches
Glossy green colour and curved boughs
Flat needs with rounded ends
Smooth bark with resin blisters and white spots
6. Nordman Fir
Nordman fir has longer needles than the noble or Fraser firs, giving it a softer look. The needles are deep, glossy green and have needle retention similar to that of both the noble and Fraser firs.
Nordman fir identifiers:
Softer, glossy green needles with blunt tips
Needles all around the branch
Slightly longer needles
Lack of a significant scent
Nordman fir has great needle retention.
7. Colorado Blue Spruce
This popular option is a great choice for a living Christmas tree. In addition to the unique blue-green or gray-green foliage, it features a good shape and dense branches when young.
Colorado blue spruce identifiers:
Blue-grey tinted needles with sharp points
Dense foliage and pyramid-shape
Branches are horizontal to the ground
Smelly when you crush the needles
8. Scotch Pine
Scotch pine is the most heavily planted fresh Christmas tree variety. Its needles are 1-3 inches long and medium green, perfect for holding onto ornaments. Needle retention is excellent, even when it dries out.
Scotch pine identifiers:
Medium-green needles
Long needles (1-3 inches)
Orange bark when mature
Oval crown
I like finding pine cones on my trees, but I also keep an eye out for unwanted Christmas tree additions.
9. Eastern White Pine
This tree has some of the longest needles in this listing, giving it a soft appearance. Needle retention is good. Because of its faint scent, this is a good choice for anyone sensitive to heavy fragrances.
Eastern white pine identifiers:
Long blue-green needles
Soft in appearance
Needles curve at their ends
Dark green smooth bark when young, and dark brown to black when older
Living Christmas Trees
Potted trees have become very popular because they can be planted in the landscape after serving their ornamental purpose indoors. Go for the type that fits your garden style.
I especially like lemon cypress trees, which is what I use to make my mini Grinch trees.
The best part about a living Christmas tree? You get to keep it!
Frequently Asked Questions About Christmas Trees
Which type of Christmas tree is most popular?
The most popular types of Christmas trees are fir trees since they tend to shed fewer needles when they dry, all while maintaining scent and colour. While it varies significantly depending on where you live, Fraser fir and balsam fir are the most popular types of Christmas trees. Fraser fir is known for its longevity, while balsam fir is known for its classic Christmas tree scent and low price point.
What kind of tree is a Christmas tree?
Just about any evergreen tree can work as a Christmas tree. The Christmas tree tradition came from Pagans as they brought boughs of evergreens inside the home during the winter solstice to remind them of the green plants that would return in the spring. The first Christmas trees appeared in Germany in the 16th century, when Martin Luther brought a fir tree into his home to decorate.
What is the Best Smelling Christmas Tree?
One of the best features of purchasing a real Christmas tree instead of a fake one is the scent. A balsam fir will give you the most scent, but they do tend to dry out more quickly than other trees. If this will be a concern for you, a Douglas fir or Fraser fir also has a scent and will last longer.
Which Christmas Tree Lasts the Longest?
Fraser fir will last you the longest, at about 5 weeks. If you like to buy your tree early, this one should still be looking good by Christmas time. A Douglas fir will also last quite a while at 4 weeks. Scotch pine also lasts for 3 weeks.
Yes, some varieties do better than others, but there’s more to it. When it comes down to a long-lasting Christmas tree, the results will mostly come from proper care. Learn more about Christmas tree care tips here!
What are the Main Differences Between a Douglas Fir vs Fraser Fir?
Both the Douglas fir and Fraser fir can last a long time in the home and are some of the best Christmas trees. Fraser firs tend to be slender and work well in small rooms as their branches turn slightly upward. A Douglas fir will appear slightly bushier and wider.
Due to their soft needles, both trees can withstand the heat of being inside a home. Fraser fir has slightly shorter needles measuring ½ to 1 inch long while Douglas fir’s needles measure 1-1.5 inches. They have a similar dark green colour, though Douglas firs tend to have worse needle retention. Their lower price point reflects that.
What are the Main Differences Between a Grand Fir vs Douglas Fir?
Grand firs tend to be one of the most fragrant Christmas trees out there, evoking a citrus like scent. Douglas firs are also scented but bring the more classic Christmas tree scent you’re probably familiar with. Both trees have the classic cone shape, though grand firs are a little fuller.
The branches of a grand fir tend to be lighter and Douglas fir branches will hold heavier ornaments better. The needles of a Douglas fir are dark green, radiating in all directions. Grand fir needles come in a glossy green colour with a slight curve of the boughs.
Douglas firs tend to be more common due to their popularity, so you may have greater difficulty finding a grand fir. Douglas firs will last around 4 weeks while grand firs are only good for about 2 weeks before they begin dropping their needles.
The most important thing to keep in mind while shopping for the best type of Christmas tree is that all-natural trees have slight physical imperfections. Some even contain bird nests or praying mantis egg sacks. Let these things serve as a reminder not to take decorating too seriously or obsess over minutia. Allow the natural beauty of the tree to take center stage for your holiday decor.
When Susan Nock, a garden designer based in Wellesley, Massachusetts, launched her business Thistle eight years ago, she didn’t set out to specialize in container gardens. “I just started doing them for fun. It’s like creating a little vignette, and I love them nestled in a garden or in front of a house.” Over the years, custom container gardens became a signature service alongside her regular garden design work. “I plant containers for all four seasons, and I love to have a fall container for Thanksgiving,” says Nock, who tells us there’s still plenty of time to design planters for the tail end of fall.
Here are her tips for late-autumn container gardening:
Photography by Susan Nock.
Plant a variety of leaf shapes.
Above: Nock likes to include a mix of textures and leaf shapes, including loose and wavy grasses and carexes, and trailing plants like ajuga and ivy.
“The number one thing to think about with container composition is making sure you have lots of different leaf sizes, shapes, and textures,” says Nock. “You want to clearly see the different plants against each other, like cabbage next to grass.”
Pick frost-tolerant plants.
Above: Ornamental kale and cabbages are frost-tolerant.
For fall planters, Nock relies on ornamental kale and cabbages, mums, and pansies, all of which will endure some frost. She likes to use tall grasses in her fall containers, too, noting, “Even when they are dormant they will look beautiful.” Nock also recommends weaving in evergreen elements now, with an eye toward reusing them in your winter containers. “You can put in a boxwood now and use it for the next season,” she says. Ditto on cypresses and English ivy, which she uses as a trailing element in containers, where the famously invasive plant can be kept in check.
Elevate those mums and cabbage.
Above: Nock proves that ornamental kales and cabbages can look super-sophisticated in a variety of compositions, including a bouquet-like design (left) and a nearly monochromatic pot that features solely shades of green (right).
While Nock is pulling from a very conventional fall plant palette, she uses these plants in unexpected ways. “Mums and cabbages can easily look a little old-fashioned,” she cautions. The key to making them look modern, she says, is massing. “We’re not used to seeing them massed in great big groupings.” Another tactic is to work in a tight color palette for a monochromatic effect. With cabbages, she says to look for ones with “fun shapes and textures.” And she says, “If you tuck mums in with other plants, as just one element in the container, they work better. They don’t look as stiff next to flowing grasses or spilling ivy.”
Shop the perennials sale.
Above: Perennials like heucheras and grasses have a place in planters.
Most nurseries have their perennials discounted right now, which Nock says you might take advantage of. In addition to perennial grasses, Nock looks for heuchera (“I love them all!” she enthuses) and carex, which she uses as a flowing, softening element in her designs. When you take apart your fall planters, you can plant these in the ground (even if it’s a little crunchy) and use them in the garden, or keep them in the containers for another arrangement.
Upcycle your pumkins.
Above: Reuse your Halloween gourds by tucking them into a container arrangement.
If you’ve got pumpkins and gourds left over from Halloween, re-home them to your planters (and if you don’t, these are likely to be on sale now). Nock especially likes to seek out interesting varieties and shapes and tuck them into the container among the plants. “They become just another texture in the design,” she says. Steal her trick to get them to sit where you want (and avoid rotting): Prop them up on an empty plastic pot from the nursery, which you can conceal with foliage or preserved moss.
Get creative when the pickings are slim.
Nurseries are often picked over come November, so “if you are not finding all the plants you want, tuck in Spanish moss or sheet moss for a fun texture,” says Nock, noting that independent nurseries and farm stands are more likely to have plants this time of year. Consider pinecones, lotus pods, and even some dried hydrangeas to fill in any holes.
Don’t forget to water!
Above: Nock will continue to water her planters until average daytime temperatures are reliably in the 30s.
“It’s really important to water in the fall,” advises Nock. “Yes, you have the irrigation shut off, but it is essential to keep pots watered going into the cold season. The more hydrated plants are, the more they can endure cold and frost.” Nock doesn’t stop watering until the daytime temperatures are consistently in the 30s, which is also when she brings her terracotta pots indoors.
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One of the best parts about the holidays is cruising through the neighborhood and marveling over everyone’s outdoor Christmas decorations. It’s the twinkling lights and goofy decorations (I’m looking at you, blow-up Santa) that make the wintertime feel extra merry and bright. The homes that go all out every year are by far my favorite, mostly because I could never muster the energy to deck out my front yard to the extremes that they do.
If you’re someone that does, though, you’re likely starting to order new decorations in anticipation of December. If you find that your go-to string of lights is missing a few bulbs or that last year’s projector has burnt out, you’ve still got plenty of time to order replacements.
In fact, I went ahead and scoured the internet for all the snazziest bells and whistles to get your home into the holiday spirit—many of which are even discounted ahead of December.
Candy cane lights to pave your pathway, lit-up reindeer and sleighs to cover any decaying grass, and last but not least, garlands to decorate your doorway are all worthy contenders. What else should be on your radar to make all your neighbors jealous? Read on, dear shopper.
Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Walmart is a STYLECASTER sponsor, however, all products in this article were independently selected by our editors. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale.
Inflatable Decorations
Maboto.
If you’ve been using the same inflatable Santa year after year, switch things up and illuminate your yard with this Nutcracker soldier. It won’t take long to fill it up with air, plus the decoration’s waterproof polyester material will ensure it lasts you for the long haul. We can’t forget to mention this product’s 46 percent discount either!
Create a brilliant pathway leading up to your front steps with the help of these star decorations. They come in a pack of eight and are heavily discounted right now.
Wade Logan.
Don’t forget to give some attention to your picket fence! Stick these sparkly red bows onto each post to show your holiday cheer.
This light-up snowman is not so big that it’s creepy, and not so small that it won’t get noticed. With a Santa hat and candy cane-striped scarf to match, we’d honestly get more than one.
Walmart
This reindeer and sleigh combo is so cute, you might be tempted to climb right in. Plus, it’s marked down right now.
Remember when light pattern projections entered the Christmas decoration scene? Well, they are still around, and possibly cooler than before.
String Lights
Kwaiffeo.
Adorn your tree
or line your roof with these eye-catching icicle string lights. They’ll be sure to create a winter wonderland in front of your home.
Best Buy
Twinkling lights are a classic must-have—the base of any good Christmas decor set-up, if you will. These aren’t your average lights, though; change brightness levels, speed, intensity, and color all through the compatible iOS and Android app.
Amazon
This pack of 12 solar lights has nine different flashing modes
that can be managed from the click of the wireless remote control. We’re not saying you have to use all nine, but if you really want to put on a show, why not?
Pine cones, berry clusters and white lights, galore! This garland needs no extra fluffing—simply hang it up and revel in your low-lift decorating efforts.
Doormats
Wondershop.
Remember that outdoor Christmas decorations most certainly include doormats. Put a festive doormat on your porch to welcome all of your guests and perhaps even some carolers.
Embrace the warmth of the season with an ensemble of handcrafted, designer décor bows featuring popular burlap, plaid and metallic sparkles
Press Release –
Oct 10, 2016
Margate, FL, October 10, 2016 (Newswire.com)
– Darling Chic Design is launching its newest line of hand-made holiday tree toppers, wreaths, and gift bows on October 18th.
Darling Chic Design was founded by Karisa Cloutier in 2013. Her bow-making story began with making simple gift baskets for her friends and family. Now, Darling Chic Design is raising the bar in home décor by creating one-of-a-kind bows for a truly unique home designing experience. While only in business for 3 years, Karisa has now become known for her trend setting, and much anticipated bow creations. Here’s what some of Darling Chic Design’s customers had to say:
Darling Chic Design is raising the bar in home décor by creating one of a kind bows for a truly unique home designing experience.
Darling Chic Design
“Even though I make my own crafts, when I saw this bow I just had to have it. It is much prettier in person. I can’t wait to make the wreath for my door. This will definitely be the focal point of the wreath. Turnaround time was excellent.” –Anita K.
“The bow is beautiful. The seller is wonderful and knew how to make this customer happy. I will definitely recommend this shop to my friends and family. Thank you!” – Debra M.
“Stunning!! I needed this order quickly and Karisa was more than accommodating! I highly recommend this shop and would definitely purchase from Karisa again!!” – Sara Z.
The Holiday Allure Collection
The inviting line will include exclusive designer pieces created with burlap, metallics and plaids; and also includes Darling Chic Design’s best-selling holiday item, The Country Christmas Set. This dazzling array of bows includes one large tree topper bow, along with 12 matching smaller tree ornament bows created with gorgeous gold trimmed tartan plaid ribbon. This set, as with others in the collection, can have multi-functional uses in the home as tree toppers, mantel decorations, gift bows, and more! Other pieces in the Holiday Allure Collection include:
• Christmas Candy: One large tree topper bow and 10 smaller tree ornament bows created with peppermint red and white velvet ribbon, bringing to mind memories of eating candy canes before holiday supper.
• Elegant Adornments: A set of 6 absolutely ravishing black and metallic silver gift bows are sure to create excitement and intrigue for your gift recipients.
• Hanukkah Sparkle: A blue sparkle mesh and metallic silver bow will help to generate joyous feelings of a festive Hanukkah holiday.
• Champagne Chic: An exquisite tree topper bow made with Champagne Colored Metallic Gold Sheer Sparkle ribbon along with Champagne Colored Gold Mesh.
• Rustic Christmas: Burlap combined with red linen/denim, and gingham red plaid come together to produce a beautiful display of rustic décor for your Christmas tree, fireplace, wreath, stairs, mantles, and more!
• Christmas Fun Tags: This bonus addition to the collection is a set of download-able gift tags to add the perfect accent to your holiday gifts.
To learn more about Darling Chic Design, visit http://darlingchicdesign.etsy.com Join the exclusive Club Chic to receive special discounts, the latest product release information, giveaways, and more.
Darling Chic Design. Give Your Special Moments the Perfect Touch.
