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What are the Best Tips for Christmas Flower Arranging?
Jessica Ellis
Jessica Ellis
Christmas flower arranging can help brings a touch of the holiday spirit to nearly any occasion. Whether a small vase on a work desk, or a beautiful centerpiece at a holiday party, Christmas flower arrangements can help set a mood and tone for nearly any occasion. In order to make beautiful, memorable arrangements, shop for seasonal flowers, create unique vases and displays, and don't be afraid to bring a crafts into the mix.
Certain types of flowers and plants have long been associated with Christmas flower arranging. Poinsettias are a popular choice, with vivid, star-shaped blossoms in a vibrant red hue. Red roses, white lilies, and red or white carnations are also popular flowers for Christmas-related arrangements. In terms of greenery, evergreen branches from pine or fir trees, holly, mistletoe, and ivy are all classic choices for a Christmas flower arranging. Using any of these flowers or greens will likely invoke cheerful thoughts and memories of Christmas for those lucky enough to pass by.
The most traditional colors used in a Christmas flower arranging are white, red, and green, and brown. These colors can be combined in many different ways, creating a candy-cane striped appearance, an elegant display reminiscent of a Christmas tree, or a vision of snow-capped greens. Pine cones, nuts, berries and branches are also sometimes incorporated into Christmas arrangements to evoke an image of silent, wintry woods. Though other colors can certainly make a festive display, sticking to the four basic colors can help immediately distinguish an arrangement as Christmas-related.
The shape, size, and display of flower arrangements for the holidays can vary enormously. In addition to traditional vases, floral arrangements for Christmas may include wreaths, swags, and garlands. Green floral wire and brightly colored ribbons are excellent tools to have on hand to assist in any elaborate Christmas flower arranging. If planning to intersperse wreaths and garlands with candles or other live-flame elements, consider using flame-retardant faux branches and greenery to reduce the risk of a fire.
Holiday crafts help Christmas flower arrangements come to life. Tipping holly leaves with silvery glitter, sprinkling fake snow across an evergreen leaf, or tying a beautiful velvet bow around a vase can add the final element of pizazz or elegance to a floral arrangement. Consider adding small Christmas tree ornaments, like birds, musical instruments, or angels, as focal points on a display. Though less is sometimes more, flower arrangements for Christmas are frequently highly-ornamented, so don't be afraid to go a little craft crazy.
Jessica Ellis
With a B.A. in theater from UCLA and a graduate degree in screenwriting from the American Film Institute, Jessica is passionate about drama and film. She has many other interests, and enjoys learning and writing about a wide range of topics in her role as a WiseGEEK writer.
Learn more...
Jessica Ellis
With a B.A. in theater from UCLA and a graduate degree in screenwriting from the American Film Institute, Jessica is passionate about drama and film. She has many other interests, and enjoys learning and writing about a wide range of topics in her role as a WiseGEEK writer.
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![Pine cones can be used to make Christmas flower arrangements.]()
By: ElnurPine cones can be used to make Christmas flower arrangements. -
![Red roses are popular flowers for Christmas floral arrangements.]()
By: Mariusz BlachRed roses are popular flowers for Christmas floral arrangements. -
![Ivy is frequently paired with holly in Christmas decorations.]()
By: Only FabrizioIvy is frequently paired with holly in Christmas decorations.
Discussion Comments
We live in the Southern hemisphere and it can actually be quite difficult to find the right kind of Christmasy flowers to put on the table.
We do take advantage of red and white seasonal flowers, which works quite well.
Another thing that I find works well is going out and cutting a few branches of spruce or pine, particularly if they have some pine cones.
Then, you might like trying to spray the tips with silver glitter or white snow. I wouldn't overdo it though, as it can quickly start to look tacky.
This way, even if you have a fake tree, you'll still have a house that smells of pine, which is something I associate with Christmas from childhood.
And adding pine to the red and white flowers gives it just the right touch, to my mind.
My grandmother had some silk flower arrangements that she brought out every year for Christmas. Every year she would modify them, taking out anything that was too faded and replacing it with something new from the Christmas catalogs. I know she'd keep them on the table, pretty much from the beginning of December, right through to the end of January.
I remember she had holly in it, and the berries absolutely fascinated me as a child, because I was convinced they would taste good, they looked so pretty. Good thing I never tried out that conviction!
After granny died, her oldest daughter, my aunt got to keep the Christmas arrangements and she still brings them to all our family Christmases, which I suppose is one of the advantages of using silk flowers.
What my mother used to do instead of flowers, was make arrangements out of the various extra bits we would always have at Christmas.
Things like Christmas crackers, candy canes and those little popper bottles that spray streamers when you use them.
She'd use tinsel to tie the candy canes together so they would sit on the table upright in a splayed bunch and stack the crackers carefully, while the poppers were put at each plate (she never liked to have too many poppers at hand... the rest were hidden around the house so the kids could find them and have fun spraying the adults).
Occasionally she'd add a small poinsettia to the table, but usually the table was so crowed with food and other things that it wasn't worth adding bunches of flowers to the mix as well.
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