After the severe cold snap we had, I was amazed to see that there are a couple of things blooming in my garden.  As the snow has partly melted, I noticed many buds showing on my helleborus niger (commonly called the Christmas rose) and a heather was in bloom. Obviously these two plants are pretty resilient to handle temperatures that dip to -15 c.   It was refreshing to see some life in the garden when everywhere looks a little dismal and grey.

Today I thought I would start on another centrepiece.  Once again I tend to do the traditional style but you can change it to a gold or silver theme.  I already had some trimmings left over from when I did my wreaths and urn (that I had kept in water) and I have a variety of artificial berries, small pine cones, ribbons and small glass balls to add interest to the centrepiece.  You will need a shallow container and florist foam.   I insert the candle in the centre of the foam using a plastic support.  I then start to insert some longer branches first (Step 1) slowly making my way around and layer with smaller branches (Step 2) making sure I use contrasting colours, i.e. the lime green cedars and the blue spruce (Step 3).  Once I have finished inserting the greenery, I randomly add the pine cones, berries and ornaments.  I like to keep it fairly simple.  This is all done with the help of florist wire to help keep these adornments in place.   This arrangement will last for some time as long as it is continually watered.  Another thing checked off on my “to do” Christmas list.