When we lived in California, I decorated our house for Christmas in a very different way from our Midwest home.  I used artificial pine garland in several of the rooms, including the living room, family room, dining room and kitchen.  Pine garland is a wonderful Christmas decorating accessory to use and it can be very versatile with the use of different items added from one room to another to get a wonderful variety of looks.

As I discussed in last month’s Décor post, Fall decorations, in our previous home in California I used several lengths of pine garland set up in both the living room and dining room decorations with golden roses, berries and oak leaves with pre-strung with lights because the intent was to leave the garland in place until Christmas.  This was meant to save time during the holiday decorating process and the accessories in the garland would be changed from the Fall to the Christmas seasons.  In both rooms there were large oak pieces of furniture, an oak entertainment center in the living room and an oak china cabinet in the dining room, and the garland was secured into place at the top of each.

For the 2002 Christmas season, I removed the Fall decorations and added red poinsettias with red berries and holly leaves.  The inspiration for this was a trip had recently made down to Encinitas, California to the Ecke farm that grows poinsettias which are marketed and shipped throughout the United States during the holiday season.  I started the arrangement by inserting several artificial poinsettias into the existing garland and in between the flowers I added holly leaves and red berries.  The contrast of the green pine garland and the red poinsettias was very festive for Christmas.  Both arrangements in the living room and the dining room used the same decorations.

For the 2003 holiday season, I decided to do a different arrangement in the dining room.  I thought it would be appropriate to incorporate artificial fruit into the garland for a food themed arrangement that was reflected in the still life painting over the china cabinet.  I started by lacing red burgundy colored ribbon throughout the artificial pine garland. Next, I secured artificial “sugared” fruit onto the garland; I used grapes, apples and pears.  I think it made a wonderful display and looked very elegant in the dining room and the arrangement was used for both the Fall and Christmas seasons.  (Please check out the craft post, Victorian centerpiece, to see how I repurposed the “sugared” fruit into a lovey arrangement that I used last year in our Midwest home for the holiday season)

In our California home, I always decorated our kitchen with a gingerbread and candy theme for the Christmas season.  To start the 2002 decorations, I hung an artificial pine garland over the window.  I had found various candy themed items in the local craft stores, such as artificial chocolate candies, white chocolate covered strawberries and white “Icing” snowflakes.  These items were secured to the garland and the decorations looked perfect for the kitchen.

In keeping with my decorating style of constantly changing my holiday displays, for the 2003 Christmas I again used an artificial pine garland and laced a cute “Ho,Ho,Ho” red and white ribbon through the garland.  I still used the artificial chocolate candies but that year I added artificial gumdops, peppermint candies and red and white lollipops.  All these items were secured to the garland and once again the contrast of red and green colors looked great for the Christmas season.  As you can see for the photos of the kitchen garland for one year to the next, the same candy theme was used but with different accessories the garlands had to distinct and different looks.

    

For the last garland arrangement in our California house, I used another artificial pine garland for the fireplace mantel, this Christmas decoration was featured in the Décor post, Displaying a Boyd’s Bear Collection – Part Two.  I had found a string of amber pinecone lights in a local store and strung them through the garland.  Next, I evenly spaced my collection of Boyd’s Bear ornament nestled among the pine boughs.  To finish the display I added several real pinecones and red berries scattered throughout the garland.

As you can see by moving from one house to another I adapted by Christmas decorations and used the items in new and different ways.  I hope this inspires you to take a look as your Christmas decorations as you unpack them from their storage boxes and think about displaying those items in fun and different ways in the rooms of your home.