Be inspired and learn some great techniques when working with fresh evergreens during the holidays and the entire winter season.
Using fresh evergreens is a great way to decorate your home during the holidays.
This group of tutorials will give you some fantastic ideas and techniques to make beautiful fresh evergreen wreaths, decoration for indoors, and some great ideas for outside your home too.
If you have evergreens growing in your backyard you can easily cut a few branches to use in your decor. Also, many big box stores and nurseries will sell greens around the holidays. Another option is to stop at a place where fresh Christmas trees are being sold and ask if they have any extra branches that have been cut or trimmed.
Creating Wreaths with Fresh Evergreens
The most common way I know of using fresh greenery besides garland is to create a fresh evergreen wreath. These four wreaths will have you making a wreath for your front door and maybe a few for other doors or friends' doors in a flash.
1. DIY Fresh Evergreen Wreath - Hearth and Vine
2. A Very Merry Holly Wreath - Garden Therapy
3. Weave a Natural Willow Christmas Wreath - Lovely Greens
4. DIY Boxwood Wreath - Duke Manor Farm
Evergreens In the Home
Your home looks and smells great too with fresh evergreens. This list has several ideas on ways to easily incorporate fresh greenery throughout the house. Spritz the greens with a little water now and then to help them last longer.
- Simple Winter Centerpiece - AKA Designs
- Easy Boxwood Letters - Hearth and Vine
- Christmas Mantel - Rustic & Weathered - Unskinny Boppy
- Church in the Woods Christmas Centerpiece - The Everyday Home
- How to Make a Boxwood Kissing Ball - Hearth and Vine
Decorating with Outdoors
In addition to wreaths on the front door, here are several ideas using fresh evergreens outside the home. Recycle your planters and window boxes with sprigs of pine, holly, berries, and other beautiful greenery to greet your guests all winter long.
- Where to Score Free Christmas Greens - House of Hawthornes
- DIY Holiday Planter for Free - Hearth and Vine
- Holiday Cheer for Outside - The Impatient Gardener
- Rustic Winter - Our Fairfield Home and Garden
If you have evergreen materials in your yard or access to someone else's, using them during Christmas is a no brainer. They are gorgeous and the cost is free.
I hope this post gets your creative juices flowing and helps you create something beautiful this holiday season.
BJ
So I have never decorated with live branches but I want to this year. I’m not sure how early to cut and make wreathes and centerpieces so they aren’t dead come the holidays. Any advice on this? Thanks!
Patti Estep
BJ, they can dry out. It varies depending on how dry or warm the air is in your home. There are products online and at local nurseries that help with wilt. Wilt Stop or Wilt Pruf... You can also spray them with water and even set them in a tub with some water. That being said I usually do nothing. However, my house is on the cold side. I typically start decorating the week after Thanksgiving (US) and my projects make it through Christmas. Sometimes a wreath or swag on the front door starts to shed a bit but it has never been a huge problem.
Carole @ Garden Up Green
I enjoy fresh greens this time of year. I have pine and cedar which is more of a blue spruce with berries. I'm tempted this year to go buy some because I just miss traditional evergreens. Trying to plan things all out and I guess really get serious next week about decorating. Great ideas thanks for the inspiration - I needed it. 🙂