by Thriving Mama

Created on: August 01, 2009

Christmas time evokes amazing memories of colors and fragrances. Deep reds, rich greens and fragrant cinnamon and spices often fill the air. Creating a centerpiece with the rich red of cranberries can be a beautiful addition to your holiday table. Using cranberries and other red berries for holiday decorations, as well as candles, date back to the colonial times when holiday decorations were made from what was available and candles were a necessity for lighting.

When creating a centerpiece, you want to consider the event for which you are decorating. If you are decorating your table for a cozy dinner, you will want to keep your centerpiece low enough that you can carry on a conversation without having to look around your decorations. For one type of simple centerpiece that fits this setting you will need a bag of cranberries from your grocer, one white pillar candle four to six inches tall or a votive candle in a jar, and a shallow glass bowl approximately twelve inches in diameter and no more than three inches deep. Sprigs of evergreen can also be added to this center piece. Simply place the votive jar in the center of your plate or bowl, with the candle in the jar. Pour your cranberries into the bowl. Springs of evergreen that are three to four inches long can be arranged around the edge of the bowl, or the bottom of the bowl can be lined with greenery pieces 8-10 inches long before the cranberries are placed in the bowl. Take care to arrange the greenery such that it is not going to be in the area of the lit candle.

If you are creating a centerpiece for a buffet table or a display table, you can create a centerpiece that is taller. Consider candlesticks of varying height topped with six inch green pillar candles. String cranberries and popcorn with a threaded needle, like beads. Leave about twelve inches of thread on either end of the cranberry and popcorn. Fasten the thread to the bottom of the candle with tape, then take the decorated string and wind it around the bottom two inches of each candle. Once the bottom two inches of the candle have been decorated with the string of berries and popcorn, take the excess thread and wind it once among the decorated thread and then tie it off discretely. Place your "beaded" candle back on the candle-sticks. Another string of cranberries and popcorn can be run decoratively among greenery on the table below the candle-sticks.

Whether threaded or loose, cranberries can be used alongside candles in number of ways to add beautiful deep reds to your holiday decorations.

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