No space for a Christmas tree? Decorate a garland instead
Make a focal point over the fireplace, run one down the centre of the dining table or wind one around the bannister. Achieving a stylish Christmas garland is not as difficult as it looks. Why not use one to display Christmas cards, just add thin ribbon to the garland and fasten the cards. You can buy one already half decorated with berries, cones and frosted tips to the needles, with or without lights. If you buy the lighted version then it just needs a few baubles, decorations, flowers or ribbon. The un-lit version just needs a small set of lights added before putting on any additional decorations.
Plain green garland with soft white LED lights, paper chain, shatterproof baubles and Christmas cards
- If starting from scratch with a plain green garland put the lights on first, winding them around the branches and putting them about half-way into the garland, to give a feeling of depth. Use a set of lights which gives you at least 10 lights per foot of garland. If the garland is to be wound around the bannister make sure the lights are LEDs , as these are cold and therefore will not burn anyone who touches them.
- If you are putting in additional garlands; such as sparkly twiggy garlands, garlands of beads, tinsel or berry garlands, wind them about a quarter of the way into the green garland, leaving room to put the decorations on top.
- Shiny tinsel looks best pushed into the middle of the garland before putting on the lights; this has the effect of reflecting the lights and adding depth.
- Try and stick to a maximum of three colours otherwise it will start to look messy. Good colour combinations to try are: black, gold and cream; berries, cones and frosty white; classic red and gold; turquoise, emerald and purple; cocoa, frosty white and crystal; burgundy, gold and oyster; blue, white and silver.
Pre-decorated garland with berries, cones and frosting with ball lights and Christmas plaque
- Have a variety of sizes of decoration; too many large pieces will make it look top heavy and too many small pieces will look messy. Large pieces can include poinsettia heads, broad, wired ribbon made into bows or large baubles.
- Evenly space out the large pieces then fill in with the smaller decorations. Small baubles can be grouped in twos or threes to make a large decoration.
Frosted garland with cool white LED lights
- If the garland is going over a mantelpiece you can give it impact by grouping the large pieces together in the centre, then put some medium pieces either side then the small pieces. This method is quite useful if using florals, as sprays of small flowers or berries can be pushed in the ends of the arrangement to taper it to a point.
Plain green garland with white and silver poinsettia and white pearl berry garland
