Deck The Home With Holiday Decor
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Fanning Staff
LEBANON (Lebanon Co.)
No need to spend a fortune for holi
day decorations. Fields, woods,
and yards contain everything you
need far some of the most impress
ive arrangements that floral desig
ners create.
Here are some of the materials to
gather: pinecones of all sizes and
shapes, chestnut burrs, horse chest
nuts, osage oranges, rosemary,
rosehips, eucalyptus, bittersweet,
cattails, jumper with the berries,
bay leaves, milkweed pods, moun
tain laurel, mosses, canella berries,
teasels, winterberry, wheat, barley,
grasses, thistles, baybeny, and
nuts.
Using these natural materials,
Lebanon County master gardeners
recently demonstrated how to
transform your home into simple
but stunning beauty.
Even if you didn't attend the
Lebanon County Extension Holi
day Program, you can duplicate
many of these ideas or use your
own creativity by incorporating
some of these ideas.
Combine many different types
of evergreens in swags, wreaths,
and arrangements. Some wonder
ful items to include with traditional
greens are juniper with the purple
berries, cedar, arborvitae, ground
pine, rhododendron, boxwood,
ivy, magnolia, broom, and holly.
However, spruce varieties such as
blue, white, or Norway are not
recommended for indoor decora
tion because of poor needle
retention.
Create Swag
• Cut three pieces of greens, each
one measuring four-inches shorter
then the next (21 inches, 17 inches,
and 13 inches).
• Clean off the top three inches
of stem.
• Place each piece on top of the
other and place a rubber band
around the tips to hold together.
• Place bow around ends using
leftover wire to make a loop for
hanging.
Stunning displays can be arranged with a mixture of
fresh and dried materials found in fields, woods, and even
yards. Osage oranges, sometimes called hedgerow apples,
are found in many natural arrangements. You can also dry
the osage oranges whole or slice % -inch thick and dry in
dehydrator or in 200-degree oven for about eight hours or
until dry.
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Create Fresh Roping
• Cut greens approximately six
inches long.
• Connect thin-gaugc bolt wire
to end of rope or twine cut to the
length desired.
• Lay three six-inch pieces of
greens at the end of rope and wrap
wire around to hold in place.
• Continue to lay greens, work
ing down the rope and wrapping
until the end. Secure wire and clip
off.
Mason Jar Uses
Endless ideas for mason jars: fill
with cranberries, nuts, and dried
fruit slices.
Fill a vase with fresh cranberries
and water and plop some fresh
flowers into the container.
How To Dry Materials
Dry slices of oranges,
grapefruit, apples, and osage
oranges in a dehydrator or in an
oven set under 200 degrees for sev
eral boms. Prop the oven door open
slightly by insetting handle of
wooden spoon.
Fruit can be dried whole or
sliced, but it lakes many hours to
dry whole fruit. Slice designs into
oranges and lemons before drying.
Many farms have an abundance
of osage oranges, sometimes
referred to as hedgerow apples.
Osage oranges are popular when
used fresh or dried in arrange
ments. They can be strung to
wreaths or swags by making a hole
with an ice pick and pushing a fish
ing line through.
Osage oranges can also be dried
in a dehydrator or in a low
temperature oven. The osage
oranges will lose their green color
when dried and turn to a toasty
brown. Either fresh or dried, they
make lovely additions to holiday
greenery.
Some items such as cranberries
will air-dry naturally when left at
room temperature. String cranber
ries on thin wire or with fishing
line. Berries strung on wire can be
shaped when placed in an arrange
ment unlike those strung with Ash
ing line or thread.
Nospeci ig skills are needed to create many of the natural arrangements
that are popular this year.
When fruit is dry, toss with cin
namon sticks, pine cones, nuts,
applesauce cinnamon cutouts, and
fresh or dried cranberries.
Many dried items can be reused
several years if stored in dry area
but left uncovered. Items that are
dried should never be placed in air
tight containers because they will
often mold.
Recycle Materials
If a silk or dried arrangement
from other years is outdated, give it
a new look by spraying lightly with
gold paint for the gilted look.
If you no longer want the
wreath, remove the materials but
save the metal ring for the base to
make your new wreath.
Tin Cans
Some of the ideas included mak
ing luminaries from old tin cans
and paint cans. Fill tin with water
and freeze. Hammer design with a
nail while ice is hardened, pour out
water. Insert candle. The candle
light will flicker through the out
line made with the nail.
Sugared Fruit
Admire those sugared fruits
popular in Victorian decor?
They’re easy to duplicate by
using fresh apples, grapes, plums,
(Turn to Page B 14)
Weary Of Christmas’ Commercialization?
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Fanning Staff
LEBANON (Lebanon Co.)
Weary of the commercialization
that accompanies the holiday?
Here are some ideas presented at
the Lebanon County Extension
Holiday Program that focuses on
the true meaning of Christmas
giving to others and encouraging
family togetherness.
Rita Moore said that she plans a
baby shower for Jesus: In addition
to the date, time, and place, she
attaches the following note with
the invitation.
A Baby Is Born
Christmas is the celebration of a
birth, a baby’s birth. That baby
appeared to be poor, even home
less. That baby was Jesus, who
grew to be Christ, the savior of the
world.
“This year, we’re inviting you to
Sugared fruit is easily duplicated. Although this looks
good enough to eat, the fruit is for decoration only.
celebrate Christmas by bringing a
gift for a baby. The baby may be
illegitimate, poor, or even home
less. It will be a baby bom to some
one who is being ministered to by
the local pregnancy center. Bring
the gift to our party unwrapped so
everyone can see it Spend as much
or as little as you like. Gifts may be
new or as good as new.”
Holiday Scrapbook
Keep a holiday scrapbook. Add
photos each year and note how the
holiday was celebrated, family
members and guests present, food
served, favorite gifts given and
received, and important events in
each person’s life.
Holiday Photos
Mount photos of past holiday
celebrations onto small cards and
place them around dining room
table during the holiday dinner.
Holiday Tablecloth
Purchase a light-colored table
cloth that can be written on with
fabric markets. Purchase markers
that will not bleed onto cloth when
washed. Use the cloth to cover the
table at holiday gatherings. Ask
each guest to write a short greeting,
or drawing, and date on the cloth.
Use a variety of colors.
Use the tablecloth in years to
come whenever you gather for
holiday meals. As time goes on, the
tablecloth will bring back memo
ries of many happy days spent
together.
Mason Jars
In a quart jar, pour in about 2-in
chcs of artificial snow. Place a
small snowman or bear and artifi
cial trees inside. Top with a glass
candleholder insert (made for jars
and available at craft supply stores)
and add a votive candle.