Fresh
Pine Centerpiece
By Christy
Everyone does a little entertaining at the holidays, and this centerpiece
is sure to wow your guests, especially when you tell them you made
it yourself. Best of all, it’s a quick craft, and it lasts
for weeks. If you see no entertaining in your holiday crystal ball,
maybe you see yourself being entertained; this would also make a
great hostess gift.
Materials:
fresh pine boughs
a basket
a liner for
your basket
floral foam/oasis
(the stuff that holds water)
floral picks
(the little sticks with wire around one end)
Just in case
you don’t know, these are floral picks, and you can find them
at your local craft store.
festive ribbon
sprigs of silk
berries
small metallic
objects (bells, tiny glass ornaments) to reflect the light
pine cones
candle sticks
Your first step
should be to decide which basket you want to use. Place your plastic
liner or bowl in the basket.
Here are
our two baskets, and their liners.
Cut the oasis
to roughly the same size as your liner. Fill the liner with water,
and place your oasis in it. Secure your liner and oasis by tying
string side-to-side, and front-to-back over the liner, as shown
below.
We’ve
secured our liner and oasis in place, so let’s go scout out
some fresh pine.
I love this
next step because you have to go out and get some fresh air while
clipping the pine boughs. Get your favorite sled out (if you have
snow), and take a stroll in the woods where you know you’ll
find some pine trees. Or, head to your local Christmas tree farm.
Most tree farms sell loose boughs for wreaths and whatnot. Tell
them you want the whatnot boughs. Keep in mind the size of your
basket you’ve picked out at home, and clip or buy your boughs
accordingly.
When you get
home, put on some holiday tunes to set the mood, and get out the
rest of your supplies. First, firmly press your candle sticks into
place, keeping them an inch or so away from the handle of the basket.
Two, three, and four candles can look really nice, especially when
you press them in at different depths to stagger the height.
Set to work
trimming your boughs to size, keeping in mind that you’ll want
some of them to be long enough to cascade over the edge of the basket
towards the table. Strip an inch or two of needles off the cut end
so they go into the oasis easier. Push the boughs into the oasis,
arranging a nice form as you go. Feel free to pull a bough out and
reposition it if you don’t like how it looks. It’s a good
idea to start with the ends of the arrangement first, using long
boughs that curve towards the table to soften the edges of the basket.
The candles
and pine are in place, time for the accents.
Now take your
sprigs of berries and poke them into the oasis as well. If they
are too short, put them on a floral pick to give them some more
oomph. Take a couple small ornaments and attach them to a floral
pick as well, and poke them into the arrangement.
Here are
our miniature ornaments and one of our ribbon accents.
Cut off about
a foot of ribbon, accordion-fold it in two or three inch folds.
Hold one end against the wire end of a floral pick, and wrap the
wire around the ribbon until secure. Fan out the folds, and stick
it into the oasis. Make a few of these, and stick them in around
the arrangement. We also picked up some pinecones while we were
out, and attached those to floral picks and set them in the arrangement.
Another ribbon
sample, and some of the pinecones we found.
Tie a big ribbon
on the handle of the basket, or if your basket doesn’t have
a handle, place it on a floral pick, and find a nice spot in the
arrangement for the bow. Water your arrangement every few days to
keep the pine fresh.
Here’s
our finished product!
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