The Best Holiday Decorating Tips–Quick and Easy!

My holiday decorating gets easier as the years go by. I’ve learned to rely on tried-and-true arrangements and simply recreate them from one Christmas to the next. The decorations are stored in bins in the garage; I supplement with fresh pine branches and holly.

Still, I enjoy the fun of creating, so there are usually one or two new additions to the holiday decor, plus a special design for the Christmas Eve dinner table.

This year, I recycled dried branches by encrusting them with epsom salt “snow.” Positioned on the console that separates living room from kitchen, it’s a statement piece and the first thing that greets you at our entrance.

Snow-Encrusted, Dried Branches

I’ve used epsom salt as snow before, to coat candles and Styrofoam balls for this holiday table.

The Ilex Berry (also called winteberry) branches I used for this arrangement has had a long and happy life. Last year the branches were fresh, and filled with red berries. When the berries shriveled, I plucked them off and used the branches as a winter arrangement.

How to Make Snow-Covered Branches

• Dried branches
• White acrylic paint
• White school glue (such as Elmer’s)
• Epsom salt
• Small paint brush
• Small foam brush for applying glue
• Sheet pan for catching excess salt

Use epsom salt to make snow balls for a beautiful woodsy centerpiece.

Using your paint brush, dab branches with white paint. Next, dab with glue and using a spoon, sprinkle with epsom salt. Keep a sheet pan under your work to capture the excess epson salt to scoop up and reuse.

Try to mound both the glue and the salt onto the branches, to give your branches a natural, snow-encrusted look.

Holiday Decorating with Snow-Covered Branches

Here’s what you can do with the branches:

• Arrange them in a tall vase as a statement piece ; I have mine where it’s the first thing you see from the entryway.
• Use them as-is, or add a string of micro lights to make the branches sparkle.
• Hook on small, plain, colored balls in the branches.
• Add some artificial birds acquired from the florist.

Christmas Tree Greens

If your Christmas tree lot gives tree trunks a fresh cut for better water absorption, there will be discarded branches from the bottoms of some of the trees. Usually, these are tossed. I ask for the discards, which lessens their trash, while giving me fresh greens for free.

When you get the branches home, run them under the faucet or hose them outdoors to remove any dirt, then use heavy flower shears to trim the base of each branch. Put the branches in a tall vase or a bucket, first stripping off the pine needles that would end up below the water line. Spritz the branches with water every few days to keep the needles plump and fresh until you’re ready to use them.

Holiday Decorating with Christmas Tree Greens

• Lay the branches on the dinner table as a runner for your table setting; you will need to trim them to fit.
• Add them to decorative groupings on a coffee table or end table.
• Keep them in a vase and use as a table arrangement; add small. ornaments, if you like.

Purchased Fresh Items

I like to include fresh elements in my decorating:

• I buy a plain fresh wreath each year and add my own decorations, including a bow made from wired ribbon.
• Poinsettias. I buy them potted and cut them for flower arrangements. To keep cut poinsettias from wilting, singe the stems with a candle or a long-handled match.
• Holly will last longest when stems are kept in water, but I like to lay them with pine sprigs on tables, so I keep them in water until about a week before Christmas.

Christmas Collections

I love to decorate with a collection of Christmas items. Buy a few to get started, then add to it, and as time goes by, you end up with a prize-worthy collection that becomes a repository of memories and traditions.

Here are my collections. Some were purchased, some were gifts, and some were homemade:

• German nutcrackers. We bought our first nutcracker at the New York City Ballet. Steve purchased the rest on a business trip to Germany.
• Battery-operated pillar candles that the grandkids can operate via remote control.
• Children’s Christmas artwork–I pin the handmade decorations to a length of ribbon to keep them grouped and more interesting to view. Some are fading with age.
• A few snow globes bought during after-Christmas sales.
• My collection of santons, tiny nativity figures from Provence, collected during vacations in France.
• Santas–one almost the size of a baby was made by my mom’s friend, Betty.
• Our personalized Christmas stockings, knitted by Steve’s Aunty Lulu.
• Holiday candlesticks–painted metal reindeer, bought inexpensively at Cost Plus and wooden Scandinavian Christmas tree candleholders from the United Nations gift store.
• Christmas books–The Nutcracker, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Christmas Carol, a beautifully crafted pop-up book on the Twelve Days of Christmas, and A Picture Book of Hanukkah from my friend Carol.

Decorating for the holidays adds to the excitement of the season and creates a festive mood for the family. For more inspiration, visit my Pinterest Board of Christmas ideas.

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