by Susan Hibberd

Created on: December 29, 2010

We all like our home to look warm and welcoming, and it’s a great idea to change your style of decoration according to the season.

In the winter, it’s a great idea to use seasonal winter foliage as  a basis for your decorating, embellishing them with bright colors to add ‘zing’.

Using natural materials brings a special warmth to the home that you cannot get from using shop-bought decorations. Read these ideas, add your own twist, and your home décor will be something that is talked about all over town!

Swags and Garlands

Swags and garlands are often associated with Christmas, and you can obviously make Christmas garlands, using pine or fir branches and adding tartan bows and tiny tree decorations. However, the garlands don’t just have to be for Christmas – think of the rows of hops that hang in English pubs or the strings of garlic in French homes.

Choose local foliage for your garlands, and place them around the top of your kitchen cabinets or along the front of dressers and drawers. You can also hang swags vertically, which is a great way to decorate those annoying narrow pillar you sometimes get in kitchens and bathrooms.

Tie the foliage onto heavy duty string or raffia, starting at one end and moving along, making sure all the branches lay in the same direction. You can then add in bows and embellishments to match the color of your décor. Any color looks good with green, but in the winter it would be nice to concentrate on the darker shades.  Pick a color from your existing décor and add in some bits and pieces to match or co-ordinate.

Candles

Candles are always a lovely addition to home décor, and they are especially nice in the wintertime when they add  a soft glow to your living areas.

Decorate candles by gluing on pressed flowers or leaves or by surrounding them with a ring of cinnamon, star anise, bay leaves etc.(Make sure you blow the candle out before it touches the leaves)

If you want to add festive sparkle, use card-making peel-offs or self-adhesive ribbon and lace. You can add winter sparkle to your bathroom by adding candles in shells. Sprinkle the candle with glue or paint on glitter glue.

Flower Arrangements

Flowers don’t have to be just for the summer months. Use armfuls of greenery accented with bought flowers in bright jewel colours, or go for a natural abundance of hedgerow bounty. Collected branches can be helped along with the addition of faux berries

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