Hi everyone!
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been very busy with the holiday season this year. Last year, it was just a blur. This year, I can notice when it’s Monday or Friday at least! I’ve been working hard are getting ideas for decor that are natural and reusable to save money and to be friendly to our Earth, and I’m happy to say that I found it!
As you know, I like to use items from around the house that I already own, and get some accents to make it more special and make it distinct depending on the occasion. This year, unfortunately, I won’t be decorating my home because I will be traveling to see my dad in PA, meanwhile some of my family is in Chile, and my mom is in Paris having the time of her life. So, I had a little fun at work and prepared a package for my clients this holiday season which included the decor. We didn’t have too much in the budget for this, but it gave me the opportunity to resort to other things that I would probably have purchased otherwise.
I looked on Pinterest (always!) for inspiration and I loved the idea of using holly berries and cranberries. These berries have the perfect shade of winter red for decor and they look absolutely stunning with pinecones, and different leaves. The challenge was, where to get these berries at a reasonable price and not stealing them from people’s yard? I went to different stores and I hated the plastic look and honestly, it is not the most sustainable option either. After brainstorming for a couple of days, I had my aha moment! I work at a golf club! We have so many different trees, pinecones to decorate an entire block and holly berry trees everywhere! I also realized that I need to get out more and just grab a golf cart and drive around the course more often…
I also purchased vases in different sizes that I used to put a small branch of the holly berry with water and I topped it off with real cranberries, which I purchased from the store, and added a floating candle on the top. The end result was amazing! I loved how everything looked! The good thing about the holly berries and the cranberries is that since they are submerge in water, they get to hydrate, and then after using them, I drained the water from the vase and leave the holly berries in the vase overnight and yes, they get dry, but once you put them in water again, they look just the same. The cranberries were drained and put in the fridge to keep them fresh. So you can keep using them as often as you need and no one will know that you are reusing them!
I think it’s the perfect idea to save money and be a little kinder to Earth!
What are your ideas to decorate for the holidays?
With love,
Natalie
Stories of an Event Planner 