So, while you lovely ladies were giving us your Saturday Survey Feedback a couple of weekends ago, I was spending a (slightly prematurely) Christmassy morning with Becky Hay from Blossom. All in the name of improving DIY Devotee for you all, Becky made some fabulous arrangements, starting off with a DIY table center for a Christmas Rustic Wedding. Of course, the best bit is that these translate beautifully to your Christmas Table and we’ll be showing you exactly how-to!
In the interests of making the whole thing even simpler, I also made a short video for you all, so please let us know what you think… (it’s even got Christmas music!)
So lets get started!
What you need
Empty jam jars – any sizes work
Double sided tape
Sections of tartan fabric (or your chosen material or even brown paper style wrapping paper would work)
Ribbon
Dried orange slices
Cinnamon sticks
Floristry scissors
Ribbon scissors
Pinking shears
Florist wires
Small pine cones
Selection of wintry foliage (we used: blue spruce, berried ivy, rosemary, holly, red skimmia, eucalyptus, kochia (the silvery grey foliage), Ilex berry (the hybridised holly which is grown just for berries). Absolutely any foliage you can raid from any garden will work.
Red Anemones
Luxor Roses
Black Baccara roses
Again, any flowers would work with this and you only need a few heads per small vase.
The How-To
1. Place a line of double sided tape around the jam jar.
2. Cover the jar with the tartan fabric, making sure it’s stuck to the tape.
3. Tie the ribbon around the fabric for added security and use the orange slice and cinnamon stick for added decoration.
4. Fill the jar with water.
5. Fill the jar with a mixture of foliage. Make sure you remove all foliage from the base of each stem so that the water remains ‘leaf’ free and clean.
6. Add the berries next so that they don’t get lost amongst the foliage and are clearly visible.
7. Place the flowers through the arrangement, again, taking care to remove any leaves that will fall below the water level.
8. Loop a wire around the base of each cone and twist tightly so that the cone can be easily inserted amongst the foliage and flowers..
9. Arrange the jars in a line up the centre of your table, along a mantelpiece, or in a group in the centre of a round table and scatter the surrounding surface with cones.
Decorating your Christmas table
We thought we would take this a little bit further than we have in the past and look at the whole Christmas table – all the ideas here work well for a winter wedding or for your own home and entertaining come Christmas.
It’s the oldest trick in the book but luxe = lots. Whatever you decide to do to decorate (again, this works in weddings and at home) grouping items that are the same/similar or work together gives a luxurious, plentiful feel. For that reason, don’t scrimp on the candles, tea light holders or in this case, pine cones! Layer up your china, table cloths/runners and pile the plates high with festive cheer.
I completely fell in love with the little clove studded and ribbon-wrapped oranges Becky brought with her, reminding me of Cristingle at primary school. Familiar to you or not, these are easily made, days ahead, and make a gorgeous table setting or scattered around your home, fruit bowl, mantelpieces etc for extra home-made charm, not to mention cute place names.
A few DIY notes!
The full DIY how-to for the jars the flowers are in, is on the video (see below).
The Orange slices used here for the jars can be purchased in craft shops relatively cheaply, however they are just as easy to DIY at home. Slice your oranges into half centimeter slices, dry and place on a baking sheet in the oven at a low temperature (around 100 degrees,) to dry them out – this can take several hours. Allow to cool, and as well as looking great in this DIY they have loads of other uses including decorations for your tree, extra decoration on your gifts or I like to hang them from light fittings and under picture frames.
All the extra decor items are my own, and built up over the years, the Feather wreath is Parlane, the tea lights (ceramic) from Cox and Cox and (the red flat ones) from Ikea. Both the table runner and the napkins are John Lewis.
To make your own Clove studded oranges, simply stud the fruit in 2 lines right the way around it, at right angles to each other. You might wnat to miss out a few where they cross to allow the ribbon to sit better. Next tie the orange up like a parcel, at right angles to the lines of cloves. Tie one knot then under your final bow, insert a stick of cinnamon. Voila!
I really hope this has made you feel extra Christmassy and all fired up to create your own ideas for the festive season, or in fact your winter wedding. Enjoy the video and please come back to view it if you are reading at work! Thank you so much to Becky @Blossom for all her hard work putting this together with me and look out for another winter inspiration table coming soon!
DIY table decor with Becky Hay from Blossom for www.rockmywedding.co.uk.
We are always on the look out for extra reader-inspired DIY projects, so if you have a Christmas project you would like to share, or a winter wedding DIY please send them along (rebecca@rockmywedding.co.uk) and we’ll get them up in the coming weeks. (All we need is some text and accompanying images.)
Time for some mulled wine I think!
Yours Truly,
Rebecca
xoxo
