It seems that no matter how one plans or budgets, Christmas costs a lot! I don’t do a lot of Christmas decorating but I always hang a wreath. Having worked several years in the floral industry with wreaths as my specialty (all year), I got spoiled with the wonderful materials available to me there. Long-leaved eucalyptus and pink pepper berries with orange kumquats are my favorite combination but alas, I no longer have an employee’s discount—even if I can find these specialties.
This year I decided to forgo the kumquats to save the three dollars (approx.),skip the eucalyptus and pink berries and go shopping in my “floral supply closet.” I found some picks of purple plastic berries and wired them with lotus pods I’ve had for ages and some loose orange blossoms. I keep all the wonderful package ribbons I receive—especially the French wire ones. This year I found some plum-colored French ribbon pieces that I added to an existing purple and gold bow. Did I learn to make bows in the industry? Until I thought my fingers would fall off!
I used to make my own greenery wreaths to save money—since I could. I’d buy a bunch of Christmas tree branches for about $4 and cut individual small branches, wire them together and attach them to a grapevine wreath form. A couple of years ago, I decided that I no longer enjoyed that process and bought a green wreath, adding my own touches. Now those have gone sky-high. Now I’m buying evergreen garland sold by the yard (sometimes a minimum yardage is required, so be wary) and attaching it to my grapevine form with ribbons and floral wire. Even the mixed variety I got this year (it turned out to cost more than the “plain”) cost half as much as a small wreath and I had some left over for a short garland by the door. The trade-off for making the wreath myself was spending several hours “creating” it. However, I think I’d rather spend those hours working in my cozy home than “fighting the crowds.”