As with every year, we welcome the end with lots of festive celebrations, first came Halloween, then Thanksgiving, now we are on to Christmas.  Having so many celebrations one right after the other can be taxing on the wallet, even in a good year and transitioning decorations from one holiday to the next can seem overwhelming at best.  Why not take a step back from all the commercialization of the holiday season and celebrate the season with a more natural pallet.  Decorating with natural elements is so simple that you do not have to be Martha Stewart to be successful.  Nor do you have to travel far to find suitable elements.  To get your creative blood flowing, here is some possible elements that you may have right outside your door to get you started:

  • Dried Apple rings
  • Pine cones
  • Berried branches
  • Magnolia Leaves
  • Boxwood clippings, or any evergreen
  • River birch canes
  • Dried Hydrangea flowers
  • Ornamental grass plumes

You can add a few items from the grocery store to round it out.  Use some lemons, limes, oranges and pineapples to give it a true Williamsburg type feel. Adding cloves will make things more interesting, as well as, smell good.

Once you have gathered all of your items you can begin gluing, wiring, painting, and assembling all of your decorations.  Natural elements can be used to create all types of things from garland and wreaths to centerpieces and wall hangings; you are limited only by your own imagination.  Don’t think that you can only have an old fashion look if you choose to use natural elements, you can give things a modern feel by spray painting the objects with a solid coat of gold, silver or other equally festive color.