Whether you want to fill your home top to bottom with holiday cheer or add a few festive touches here are there, my advice is the same: Start with a fabulous base. Amazing greenery and show-stealing ribbon are the essential bedrocks of a sensational holiday treatment.
I was working with a customer this week who was starting fresh with her holiday décor. After taking in all the Christmas pageantry at Nell Hill’s, she asked me where to start to get the most from her budget. Simple! I advised her to invest in garland, picks and ribbon, then add all the rest, like ornaments, in the future. You can decorate with these three alone and your home will look beautiful.
Garland
For years, I was a greenery snob. You would never, ever catch me using faux fir in my holiday décor. Back then, the fakes looked, well, fake. I started to lose my love for real pine boughs about the time they started to destroy my wood furniture, one sap drip at a time. And all those dry needles all over the floor – ugh! Now the faux greenery we carry at Nell Hill’s looks so real you have to touch it to tell – you can’t believe your eyes. Check out this inspiration mantel from Nell Hill’s, pictured above. Garland makes the scene.
This is our most popular garland at Nell Hill’s. It’s 6-feet long and costs just $29.90. Every year, we sell out of it because it is so beautiful, basic and affordable. The pinecones and multiple hues of green make it look just like the real thing.
You can use garland all over your home. One of my favorites is looping it up a banister. This photo, from my book O Christmas Tree, shows how I used ropes of garland to dress up the banister at my home in Atchison.
Of course, garland is ideal for your mantel. Here’s a shot of one of our inspiration mantels at Nell Hill’s this year. Often, we add to our basic pine garland by twisting in accent garland, like one covered in berries or featuring a contrasting leaf, like magnolia. The effect is stunning.
You can snake some garland down the center of your dining table, like we did in this photo from O Christmas Tree. Cut a 6-foot garland in half and use it to decorate your buffet, or thread it through the arms of your dining room chandelier. How do you keep all these strands of garland in place? Cinch them up with zip ties. We go through thousands of zip ties every year at Nell Hill’s. You can find them at any hardware store. Get the biggest size you can, then trim the unused edges.
Picks
Picks come in all shapes and sizes, and feature all types of faux greens, berries, flowers and nuts. They have a finished end, with the other end left unfinished so you can tuck them into a vase, behind a piece of art, into a Christmas tree or any other spot you can imagine.
In this photo, we used wild looking evergreen picks to create a bouquet of winter branches. The key to making picks or garland look lifelike is to fluff them out, spreading the branches or needles or berries so they take on the form or patterns they would follow in nature.
Here’s a sweet little pick we’re using a lot this year in our holiday and winter displays. We use artificial trees at Nell Hill’s, and picks are our go-to tool to make the trees full and lush. We tuck them in here and there, filling in bare places, and giving the overall tree more dimension and interest.
This basket at Nell Hill’s is stuffed full of a few of our favorite picks this year. For a fast and lovely statement on your kitchen island, entry table or coffee table, place a few picks on a tray, add a few tree ornaments and a holiday figurine, like Santa. Done!
Ribbon
I love ribbon. Absolutely and completely. I can’t imagine my home dressed for the holidays without using spools and spools. Ribbon adds so much texture and softness. We have so many different types of holiday ribbon this year, from traditional (a spool of our black watch plaid ribbon is going home with me this year!) to whimsical to glamorous.
At Nell Hill’s, we loop ribbon into our Christmas trees, use it to hang wreaths and tuck it into mantels. On this inspiration mantel, we paired a lovely plaid ribbon with this sparkling gold ribbon.
Here’s a very different inspiration mantel at Nell Hill’s. The luxurious gold ribbon, cascading softly from the greens, takes the look to a new level. To create an interesting swag on each corner of your fireplace mantel, you can cut a piece of garland in half to use on each side. Dress it up with ribbon, picks and ornaments, and you have a beautiful holiday treatment.
Merrilyn says
November 5, 2018 at 9:00 amGreat post!!
For those who asked how to secure the garland to the base…..(all about dat base, ’bout dat base..)
I use those clear, Command by 3M, cord holders to hold the zip ties (or garland). They peel off easily afterward.
Leslie says
November 5, 2018 at 9:50 amCan you share how you secure garland to a fireplace mantel? I never seem to get mine secure enough to stay up. Thank you.
Mary Carol Garrity says
November 11, 2018 at 9:37 amLeslie, you can tap a nail into the back edge of the mantel, on both sides, and wire the garland at each end to the nail.
franki says
November 6, 2018 at 7:20 amYour establishment must be a “Wonderland!!” Incredible!! franki
Sally Kennedy says
November 9, 2018 at 6:16 amI notice whenever anyone uses garland ,faux or real, they have it all going one way. I like to measure off what I’m going to need, then pick it up at the center cut it and wire it back together with one half facing in the opposite direction. This way both halves are hanging down and look evenly balanced.[One of my many quirks.]Love everything you do,love you articles in my Friday Detroit Free Press Homestyle section!
Peggy says
November 13, 2018 at 10:48 amLove the mantels !!
Linda Davis says
November 13, 2018 at 6:35 pmSeeing all of the beautiful garlands and picks makes me realize I need to replace some old garlands. Your photos were such an inspiration.
Suzan Andeson says
November 17, 2018 at 9:35 pmI am requesting for the third time about the possibility of order some of your fabulous pine garland and picks to be shipped to Hickory, NC. Though I have not heard back from you I am sure that you have not had time to reply during this busy season .
My new son in law is allergic to the live greenery that I have always used and I am in a bit of a bind . I promise that I really need your help. I just can’t go cold turkey to less than lovely artificial garland. Any help that you can give me in ordering from you is immensely appreciated.
Suzan Anderson
And2038@aol.com
828 381 0184
Suzan Anderson says
November 19, 2018 at 8:36 pmHey friends!
It is Suzan Anderson, again. Do you have the circles of moss that surround the candles in the candelabra or is that real moss? I will have an order being shipped to me and would like to include a few of those if you still have them.
Love your customer service. You make me feel like an old friend.
Many thanks, Suzan