String dried apple or orange slices on wire to make door hangers or garlands, shown above and below.
Artificial berries contrast with fresh pines in a wreath.Holiday GreensFor indoor holiday decorations such as garland, swags and wreaths, choose pine, fir and cedar. These cuttings dry out slower than other greenery.The best way to ensure your greenery is fresh is to cut it yourself. If you are buying, give pine needles the Christmas tree test: Bend branches or tips back. If they are brown or they break/drop needles, don’t buy it.Natural greens can last up to a month, but it’s best to hang them one or two weeks before Christmas.Buy or cut greenery as close as possible to when you will use it. After bringing branches home, recut their ends, slightly flatten the ends with a hammer so they will absorb more water, them soak them overnight in a bathtub filled with water.Use cooler LED Christmas lights on garlands.Hang fresh greenery away from vents, sunny windows and, of course, the fireplace. Don’t swag a mantel in fresh garland if you plan to use that fireplace.Don’t use greenery with poisonous berries if you have children or pets. These include holly, yew, ivy, Jerusalem cherry, bittersweet, crown of thorns and mistletoe.Source: HGTV.com
Artificial greenery has become so much the norm in holiday decorating, the occasional encounter with the pungent scent of pine is enough to cause an immediate flashback to Christmases past.
And sometimes that woodsy aroma is even wafting from a candle or an air freshener.
Although the buzzwords for holiday decorating are “prefabricated” and “prelit,” there are still homeowners who deck their halls with boughs of holly, swag their banisters with fresh pine and hang live mistletoe kissing balls over the doorways. It’s easy to forget that such picturesque, Dickensian scenes occurred before the invention of central heat, when indoor greens would last longer. But by remembering a few basic tips, it is still possible to re-create that natural look for a short time, say local retailers.
“The natural look is really popular right now — pine cones are back in; magnolia leaves are big, even cotton bolls,” says Dana Easley, office manager and a designer at Southern Accessories in Dalton, Ga. “Natural greenery gives a welcoming look to anything on the door, that accents the mailbox or lamp post.”