Reflect on Your Yuletide Decorations

People get excited about Christmas earlier every year and so do shops, bringing out the wrapping paper and advent calendars almost as soon as summer is over. Whether you are OTT about this festive period or refuse to buy into the hype, there’s little doubt that Yuletide decorations can make a home feel special.

It’s Not All about the Tree

Let’s put the fir or spruce to one side and talk about the living room in general. You can do so much better than just displaying your cards or putting a string of fairy lights in the window. You can go for tastefully understated or full-on Christmas saturation; just put some thought and a bit of effort into it. One of the best areas to focus on is the fireplace.

Happy Hearth

If you’re lucky enough to have a fireplace, whether working or faux, log burner or gas, it tends to be in a central position, so let it shine when it comes to decorations. It’s an added bonus if you have a mantelpiece for displaying festive items but it’s not essential and if you have a working fire, it’s not particularly safe dangling stockings or other objects from it. A large, framed mirror is what you really need; this will add more light and offers a terrific canvas for embellishment. Ideally, opt for a bevelled mirror, which has angled edges that act as prisms and catch the light, causing interesting colour patterns. Here are some ways to make that mirror work its magic.

Deck It with Boughs

While you can go to your local DIY shop and buy everything ready-made, it’s easy and satisfying to make eye-catching adornments yourself. Pick up some artificial greenery boughs (or if you’re really industrious, you could prune your own evergreen trees and using gardening wire, make a long ‘rope’ for draping. Then using the green gardening wire and wearing rubber gloves, tye red chillis, cinnamon, star anise, pine cones, small apples and oranges onto the greenery. The fire or central heating should cause the chillis, apples and oranges to slowly dry out, rather than rot. A finishing touch would be to wrap battery-operated fairy lights around it. This type of decoration will not only look fabulous, it will emit wonderful aromas as well. Wrap it around the mirror and secure it with fencing staples at several points at the back of the frame. Although candles displayed in front of a mirror can look enchanting, the naked flames wouldn’t be safe around the boughs, so either use electric candles or do without.

Indoor Wreaths

Wreaths aren’t just for the front door and they don’t have to be conventional. A rag or bow wreath can look fantastic hung in the centre of a mirror. They’re quite simple to make; you will need a 30cm diameter ring (fashion a ring out of a wire coat hanger, then cover with florist tape or buy a wreath ring); one metre of fabric in total (use a combination of patterned and plain in coordinating colours); ruler, scissors. Cut up the fabric into strips measuring 2.5cm by 15cm, then simply tie them round the circle, alternating colours and/or patterns. The more pieces of rag, the thicker and more impressive your wreath will look. You can add jingle bells and ribbon if you wish. If you’d like more detailed instructions, these can be found here.

This year, don’t limit your creative talents to the tree alone. After all, Father Christmas will appreciate a beautifully decorated hearth.