Clever & Quick Centerpieces Art-up a Holiday Table
Homemade centerpieces add color, fragrance, and candlelight to your dining room, and who knows, perhaps they make the food taste better! So, here are some tips to make your centerpiece a conversation piece this holiday season:
Better Homes and Gardens magazine has some great ideas for Christmas. They include taking strands of battery-powered lights and winding them haphazardly under upside-down decorative glasses or bowls. Done!
Or fill flat bowls with edible treats, such as nuts and peppermint candies, and non-edibles such as ornaments. You can use layers, nesting each bowl into each other by size.
Spray adhesive on greenery and press it flat on the inside of a large glass; place a candle in the middle. Or glue glitter and jewels on fruit, such as red and yellow pears, and place in a bowl.
There is the more traditional but beautiful plan of filling a vase with foam. Tuck in pine sprigs and berries, and then the candle, securing with florist’s picks. One idea I saw last year was filling a large vase, or several vases, with water and placing your favorite flowers, such as amaryllis or red roses, inside. To hide the stems, fill with … cranberries!
You can hollow out apples, or a pineapple, or acorn squash, and fill it with foam and greenery, maybe some ornaments and nuts. Perhaps spread magnolia leaves around the base.
A web site that caught my eye, Cozy, shows you how to make gumdrop trees, and snowflakes, and don’t forget you can just pile pine cones into a wooden bowl.
Celebrating Hanukkah? Southern Living suggests flat blue bowls filled with water and floating candles. Or Kwanzaa? Setting up the table is an important part of this holiday celebration. This site has some tips, including using the kinara, the seven-candle holder, (you can even make your kinara); a straw mat; fruit and ears of corn; and the special unity cup used during the communal libation statement.
For this Thanksgiving, I used a large rustic wooden bowl, three round white candles, fall leaves, and nandina berries tucked under the candles. For Christmas, however, since I am traveling, I plan to order a centerpiece for my host. Have a warm safe holiday season.
