Deck the Halls

[Mel]

Article featured in Avatar - Volume 3, Issue 6 (December 2009).

Deck the Halls
By Nat (Strider)

The holiday season is here! People are scrambling to string up their lights and finish their shopping, while fruit cakes and cookies bake in the oven. The tree may be up, coated and glistening with trinkets and tinsel, but how do you dress up the rest of the house? These are some fun and easy ways to deck the halls in your home.

Wreaths

If you usually celebrate the holidays the old-fashioned way and pick up a real tree, chopped fresh and spitting needles, then this is the perfect decoration for you. Pull out a few loose branches from the bottom of the tree that are still full and green and organize it in a circular or fan-like shape. Most conventional wreaths seen in movies and on television are round, but fanned wreaths look snazzy as well. Tie the pieces together with twine or glue them with hot glue to keep them in place. If you want to add other pieces to your wreath, holly berries and pine cones make a wreath look even more festive. Outside on your door is the perfect place to put it. It’s a great way to decorate the outside of your house, as well as keep those pesky needles off the floor.

If you have a fake tree or don’t get a tree around the holidays then many stores sell fake pine branches that you can use in substitution―plus they don’t leave a mess!

Centerpieces

Colourful centerpieces look great on a table during the holidays, and they are fairly easy to make. Poinsettias and pine branches add the typical red and green, and you can organize them in many ways. A smart tip is to put your centerpiece on a tray or in a vase so that it can easily be moved if necessary. Also, having your branches in water helps keep them fresh longer. Try arranging the branches or flowers around a large candle or a few smaller ones in glass containers. When lit, the candles will make your centerpiece the highlight of the table.

Candles

Candles are a wonderful way to add a special glow to your home around the holiday season. They can be set up easily almost anywhere in the house, from mantle places to tables to countertops. Tea light candles are reasonably priced and can be found at almost any grocery or big box store. They can be placed on plates or kept in coloured glasses.
If you don’t feel like buying candles, then making them yourself is another option. All you need is some wax, thick string, a paper cup, and a few ice cubes.

Melt the wax over the stove on a low temperature and have your paper cup ready with a few ice cubes on the bottom. Tie the string around a pencil and have the bottom of the string touching the bottom of the cup. Set the pencil across the top of the cup to hold the string upwards. Pour the melted wax into the cup and wait for it to harden. Once the wax has hardened, cut the string from the pencil to the length you want your candle wick and tear the paper cup away from your candle. Having the ice in the cup will have made holes and interesting designs in the wax, making your homemade candle even more original.

Just remember that you don’t need to buy a whole bunch of expensive decorations to make your home look festive for the holidays. Try looking through your house for red and green objects that could be placed together or see if there is anything outside that you could use instead. It’s a wonderful time of year to be creative and have some fun!

Happy Holidays!