3 Easy Ways to Use Nature in your Holiday Decorating

This holiday season is the perfect time to update your collection of holiday decorations with some natural elements.  In the spirit of the season, bringing natural elements into your home can add delight to all of your senses. Here are a few quick and easy tips to help you get started.

1. Cranberries, cranberries, cranberries! String fresh cranberries and add them to your Christmas tree. The red of the berries will pop against the green of the tree. Add some slices of fresh lime or lemon to the cranberries and watch it dry naturally as Christmas day approaches.  You can also make a statement with cranberry studded letters. Cut your desired letters out of Styrofoam and then simply stud cranberries on tooth picks into the foam. This same technique applies to Styrofoam balls, which can be used in a decorative bowl, or atop sturdy candlesticks to create whimsical, yet modern, topiaries.

2. Make your own holiday wreaths using natural elements such as branches, bay leaves, rosemary stems, holly vines or leftover Christmas tree cuttings. Most craft stores sell wire forms that can easily be filled in, forming a one of a kind welcome symbol for the season.  Take it a step further by adding colored balls, fruit, ribbon, pinecones, nuts or candy to make your one of a kind wreath. Once you begin being artistic with your elements, the sky is truly the limit.

3. Infuse instant holiday aroma into your environment. Think of the scents of the holidays and how that can put you in the mood to celebrate. Keep a basket of home-made scented pinecones (pinecones that have been dipped in egg whites and rolled in cinnamon and crushed cloves) sitting on your hearth. These can be tossed into a great crackling fire, producing an instantly festive scent. Construct pomanders by studding fresh oranges, lemons and limes with cloves and then rolling them in cinnamon. These can be arranged in a clear bowl filled with greenery and spices introducing instant holiday spirit!

Look around you and notice all of the colors of the season appearing in your surroundings. By being creative with colors, textures and aromas and your holiday season will be filled with an extra sense of wonderment!

Atlanta Real Estate Forum would like to thank Donna Mathis of DMD Studios, Inc. for contributing this post.

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