Fresh and festive holiday arrangements

As you start to plan how you’ll deck your halls this year, consider doing something unexpected from the usual holiday décor. “I don’t really do red and green at Christmastime,” says Michelle Bignell owner of Fleurelle in Orangeville, Ont.

Bignell has experimented with fresh hints of fuschia, chartreuse and white to decorate her home for the holidays. “If you add enough greenery and ornaments, you get that holiday feel,” she explains.

Here’s how to recreate Bignell’s uniquely festive winter wonderland in your home.

Just add water and let it snow
The secret behind this delicious-looking confection in a compote dish is the fake snow. The fluffy foundation is made from a product called SnowReal. All you need to do is add water to a powder for instant snow. “It twinkles and it’s very realistic looking,” says Bignell.

The rest is easy—the pink rose bud, which is framed by cedar and eucalyptus greenery, sits in a water pick that you can change each week. And a pinecone ornament tops it all off. You can really use any type of glass dish for this arrangement, says Bignell, and then use it as a centrepiece or to adorn a buffet. The fake snow will look freshly fallen for three weeks or more.

A floating flower vase
Need a fun hostess or thank you gift? Add a mini arrangement to a little festive cloth bag. Bignell makes and sells the bags, like the one shown here, in her store, and has used roses, fancy carnations, cedar greenery and leather fern to fill it.

Simply wrap the bottom of the stems in cellophane, wrap with ribbon or garden twine and carefully fill with water using a small watering can. You can hang it just about anywhere—just not in place of the stockings!