Christmas Greens | Fresh vs Faux
It's almost Christmas! I've had every intention to share photos of the Christmas preparations and decorations in our home, but I haven't been able to muster the enthusiasm. Much has to do with my heart being in other places since the news of last Friday. I sat down to blog about my feelings on the shooting several times but ultimately decided to keep them private and put them into prayer and to place my energy into loving my own boys and making this Christmas special.
Our home at Christmas is my favorite place in the world. I don't go crazy with decorations, but a little greenery here and there, lots of candles, wreaths and white lights can make everything so much cozier and festive. I, like everyone else these days, prefer real, fresh greenery over the synthetic variety. I still remember sending Jimmy out to buy more roping and greenery for our first Christmas as newlyweds in our very first home from the Feed Barn in town. He told me the lady at the shop said I must be "very classy" decorating with the real stuff. I thought that was very funny at the time, likely the reason I still remember it. Now it seems everyone is anti-faux. Every blog, magazine, and TV program shows homes brimming with fresh boxwood, fir, cedar and pine. And these homes appear to be decked out the day after Thanksgiving. Leaving many of us wondering their secret. Ok, maybe not many, but definitely me. I've even asked before how they keep that greenery fresh till Christmas. I haven't gotten much in the way of helpful replies {because there is no way that fresh roping on a mantle lasts for 3-4 weeks}, so I'm going to share what I have experienced and a couple of my tricks. Let's just say I'm not all one way or the other. I like to mix the real stuff with a little fake.
When it comes to the exterior of our home, I opt for 100% real. It's usually pretty cold here in December and they stay fresh and green throughout the month. I've had boxwood wreaths on our windows, fresh greens and berries in our window boxes and a big fresh fir wreath on the front door for 3 weeks and they are still going strong. Fresh roping/garland tends to dry out faster and starts to brown a bit. I've noticed the roping on our fence has a tinge of brown in a couple spots already. Now, inside is a whole different story. The past two years I've added sprigs of fresh greenery all over the place, woven among the artificial stuff. I've done it early, first week in December early, and both years it has dried up and needed removing before Christmas. Enough of that mess. So, this week I removed the dead stuff and added round two of fresh greenery. This time with fresh sprigs from my yard and from a pile of tree clippings I took from the Boy Scout's tree sale down the road. Next year, I will put up the artificial garlands early in the month and just wait till the week before Christmas to weave in the fresh. It smells so good and makes the fake stuff look all natural. Boxwood did terrible inside, so I'm skipping that next year and just sticking with fir and pine. Here are a couple before and afters to show the difference the fresh greenery makes:
{dining room chandelier with artificial greenery}
{a few minutes later with some fresh "real" greens woven in}
{close up! so pretty.}
{cards and faux greenery around doorway into kitchen}
{after with some fresh mixed in}
I also keep greenery, in water, in several ironstone pitchers throughout the house. I especially like how it adds a touch of Christmas to the kitchen. They drink a lot of water, so replace it often! I had a fresh wreath around the kitchen sconce and another over a small federal mirror in my living room but both puttered out. Fake ones now hang {happily} in their places.
{this little fresh wreath lasted about a week and smelled amazing}
{you can see pitcher of holly and berries peeking out on the window sill}
{more real + fake}
{and lastly, another mix of real + fake over painting on mantle}
The one place though that only real will do is our Christmas tree. And it has to be a fraiser fir. This year it's in a basket. I must do an entire post on this too. Lots has been learned! It's been comical and frustrating all at once. More Christmas pictures to come...
PS. For the record, it does help to soak fresh greens in cold water prior to using them indoors. I've also been told there is a product sold by florists that you can spray on, as well as misting with water, that can extended the life of fresh greens inside. I'm skeptical... :)