Gardening: Decor in silver and gold, red, green and white

It’s that time of year when at least some of the time, it’s a good idea to have your eyes on the ground. Why? Not because you’re afraid you’ll trip. Because there are goodies everywhere! There’s nothing nicer than natural stuff, transformed, almost instantaneously, with a little spray paint and some glitter or some gloss.

Seed pods are everywhere, as are pine cones, and almost all of them are salvageable as decorations. If you bring pine cones inside, let them dry out and warm up until they’re fully open before you do anything with them. The minimalist approach, if that’s your style, is a simple clear gloss, available in any hardware store. I use clear Krylon and find it works really well — the gloss enhances the color, enriching it somehow and deepening the hue. It also discourages outside foragers. Apparently it doesn’t taste good.

Greens are a great base for any display. If you have to buy them, they’re available all over the Island, or you might own some, as I do; mixing different types together looks lovely. I buy some long needled pine, then add a few cryptomeria boughs and some cedar from the yard. Luckily for me, I have Ram Island friends with wonderful holly trees and so after begging for some branches, I’m done.

If you have empty window boxes and/or planters, think about decorating them as well as the mantle. Fill them with greens for a base and from there just be creative. I also like Christmas balls, either gold and silver together or all one color with gold — and in different sizes. I have a large bag of the tiny gold ones and love strewing them about.

I also rely heavily on those little white lights. It has always interested me that both major religions feature holiday stories with a motif of light. The Hanukah story speaks of the lamp that burned, not for one day but for eight, shedding light in the darkness. And the Wise Men followed that star. On the darkest days of the year, light was sought out and celebrated.

I have a number of house plants that “fountain” and I entwine them with strings of little white lights, which I think look very festive — and the plants don’t mind at all. Those lights aren’t hot. My plants are mostly the fern wannabes, asparagus and sprengeri, but philodendrons, ivy and others would be equally suitable. I turn the lights off at night and I think that’s probably a good idea. All living things need to rest.

So, especially if you’re on a tight budget or even if you aren’t, try your hand at some arts and crafts. It’s not really all that time consuming and making something yourself always feels different and more fun. Maybe it’s memories of kindergarten that creep in without our noticing.

Tip: Pine cones are like artichokes in that they’re food, not for us I admit, but  each of those little “leaves” is coated with edible stuff. I found this out when I lived in Westchester. There was a large pine grove at the top of our hill and I found that dry pine cones are excellent fire starters. In the course of crawling around and filling large garbage bags with them, it became clear to me that some of the pine cones’ “leaves” had been stripped bare, clearly by some animal. I decided they were probably sucked/eaten by raccoons — opposable thumbs would be required.