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Unconventional Holiday Decor
Dressing Your Home for the Season
By Suzy Feine
Yip recommends adding fresh ingredients to your holiday display to welcome guests. "Keep flowers and plants inside the home to liven the space and keep your home cheerful and welcoming in the cooler months," he says. "Shift to seasonal flowers, such as poinsettias or Christmas cacti, to make rooms cozy. Clip fresh greenery, such as magnolia leaves and evergreens, to add color inexpensively."
Casey Cooper, special event floral designer and owner of Botanicals, Inc. in Chicago, Ill., also recommends using ingredients from nature instead of the store when decorating for the holidays. "If you prefer warm, earthy and tactile, arrange several wooden bowls, trays or warm-colored ceramics and fill one with pine cones, one with cranberries, another with white pine tips and another with cinnamon sticks or maybe orange slices," she says. "Line a long table with a wide ribbon and line up nature's elements for a textual display."
Topiary trees – small trees sheared or pruned into a shape – add a classic and stately look to your d袯r during the holidays or anytime, says Cooper. "Topiary trees are a wonderful holiday item that can be dressed for the season with beautiful ribbons, and after the holiday, the ribbons come off and you have a lovely pair of topiaries that will last throughout the year," she says.
