I’m something of a minimalist when it comes to decorating for the holidays. Actually I’m a bit of a minimalist all the time, it’s just a little more obvious at this time of year.
I have very little in the way of store bought Christmas knickknacks, other than all the ornaments collected over the years which hang on the tree. I tend to feel a little claustrophobic if I have a house brimming with decorations and so much Christmas stuff involves a lot of red. So much red. I don’t like red.
I do love Christmas cheer and holiday sparkle though, I just have a tendency to stick with a lot of white with some silver and gold thrown in for good measure. And because I don’t like red but do like to give a little nod in its direction, I will use the palest of pinks.
For these flower arrangements I spent $45.oo which included the following from Trader Joe’s:
- 2 bunches seeded eucalyptus $6
- 1 bunch white hydrangeas $6
- 1 bunch white roses (with the palest of pink tinges) $7
- 1 bunch white tulips $6
And these from my local grocery store:
- 2 bunches hypericum berries $8
- 1 bunch wax flowers $4 (was not a planned purchase but I loved the colour and the smaller flowers for some texture)
- 1 bunch dusty miller $8 (also not a planned purchase and the most expensive item, but I love that wintery silver vibe they have)
Also used were magnolia leaves, holly and Christmas tree greenery all foraged from outside. The Christmas tree greens, some flocked (which I have never done before, but absolutely loved) were found kerbside in the neighbourhood while out walking the dog!
That’s the great thing about putting together arrangements at this time of year. All the greenery is either inexpensive or free (Christmas tree cuttings) and looks so great all by itself that you don’t have to add a lot of flowers to dress it up.
I mixed all of these flowers into 3 different arrangements which you can keep for yourself or give away as gifts. The black jug I used was from the Magnolia collection at Target. The white jug I have had for many years and the mercury glass square vase was from Joann Fabrics. I believe it was about $12, half that with a coupon. You can get some pretty nice containers from Joann’s very inexpensively.
With the jugs there is nothing fancy I did to arrange the flowers. I simply filled them with foliage and then inserted the roses, tulips and berries randomly. I do faff around a bit just to get them looking the way I want.
With the hydrangeas I find it helps to use some tape just to give a bit of support to the flowers
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All this involves is two strips of tape running horizontally and vertically and inserting the flowers within the squares. When you have cut the stems down on flowers for a low arrangement, this helps to keep them from constantly toppling out as you’re arranging them.
And not only was I able to make these three arrangements but there was enough left over to make a couple of extra small ones.
And then I took all the Christmas tree greenery that was left over and stuffed it into an urn I usually use for orchids. Simple, cheap and festive.
