Create the Perfect Christmas Centerpiece with Fresh Greenery

This gorgeous Christmas Centerpiece is both easy to make and easy to enjoy. It is the perfect addition to a cozy Christmas home and is sure to impress your holiday guests!

Christmas at The Flour Barn Bakery

It is finally the holiday season and I could not be more excited. Not only is it a magical time for all our small children, but we also love this time of year at our little bakery, the Flour Barn. Our red barn is the perfect setting for holiday baking and it is such a delight to be able to work out there. We hang our Christmas wreath from the door and fill our windows and display cases with beautiful garland. For years we have been making our garland out of fresh local greens. We love long strands of beautiful garland but wanted to create something specific for your holiday table. After experimenting with wreath molds and other materials we finally created the perfect focal point for the center of your table.

We love garland with fresh greens. It is easy to put together, it smells amazing, and it is such an elegant-looking centerpiece. We are so proud of this simple design that we have started teaching a class every winter on how to create garlands with fresh greenery. About a month before Christmas we invite our guests to the beautiful French Hen farm, a local wedding venue, and we eat, chat, and make a garland. It is such a joyful event where we all leave with new friends and a gorgeous, festive centerpiece. For those of you unable to attend our in-person event, I still wanted to share with you this amazingly simple Christmas centerpiece.

Supplies for You Christmas Centerpiece

This is similar to our original “how-to” on How to Make Holiday Garland, but with a different shape. It takes the same concept of how to create garland from fresh greens and builds upon that concept to create a more spectacular centerpiece.

24-gauge floral wire

The best kind to get is the paddle wire because it makes the wire easier to wrap around and control.

1/4 in rope/twine

Decide where your Garland will be. Are you wanting it for your kitchen island, dining room table, or even your coffee table? Once you know the location you plan to put your centerpiece, measure the length you want it to be. You will then cut your two pieces of rope accordingly, factoring in the ten inches for the wreath frame. This will become clear as you read the directions.

The greenery of your choice

Due to the volume of greenery we need for our classes, we often order from a local farmer. I recommend talking to your local florist. I personally have also used my own boxwoods and pine tree clippings and created a beautiful piece. Evergreen garlands are gorgeous, and I have heard other recommendations including white pine, noble fir, princess pine, blue spruce, and pine branches. All will work for your Christmas Centerpiece.

Wreath ring

This will sit at the center of the garland strand. It is the perfect way to create and opening where your vase and candle can sit.

6 in Glass Container

This container sits perfectly within the wreath. We created a frosted look on ours; however, this would be beautiful without the frosted look as well.

Adhesive Spray

We use this to spray the inside of our container so that the Epsom salt will coat the inside of the conatiner.

Epsom Salt

This will coat the inside of the glass container, creating a snow covered or frosted look.

White Candle

You can really use any color, but we suggest a white candle to let your snow covered vase shine with no distracting colors.

Additional items for your greenery

These are items that you add to accessorize your greenery. They make this centerpiece so customizable. If most of your house decorations are gold, you can add gold bulbs. If you want a more rustic look, you can add velvet bows and dried oranges. The possibilities are endless.

Dried orange slices: You can dry your oranges at home in a dehydrator or oven. You can also purchase them. I found these and have seen them used for crafting!
Pine cones: I like the size of this set. They also have hooks on the ends that can make it even easier to attach to your garland with the wire.
Red Berries: The best way to add other flowers or greenery is to use items that have a long enough stem to easily insert into your garland or hook to it with wire. Here is a great option.
Velvet ribbon
Ornaments (for Christmas): I was able to get mini ornaments that were so sweet from my local grocery store. Here is another great option that comes in several different color options.
Fairy lights: These delicate lights are so simple to wrap around your garland and give it that extra pizazz. Here is one that is long enough for any size garland and is battery powered. Battery-powered is crucial because rarely are you placing your garland right by an outlet.
Christmas lights

Create Your Christmas Centerpiece Outline.

You start by cutting two pieces of twine based on how long you want your garland. Then you tie one on each side of a wreath frame. This is an easy way to leave room for our glass container for our candle.

Cut and Organize your Greenery

The first step is to pick your greenery and prepare it. In our class, we had a variety of greenery for our students to choose from. We recommended they choose at least three different greens but were free to use as many as they liked. If you are limited in the amount of variety you have, a simple garland is beautiful too. For each variety of greenery, you will want to cut out at least ten 12-inch-long sections.

What seemed to be a great way to organize things for our class was cutting and prepping all of your greenery before you started putting anything together. It also helps to organize each 12-inch section by variety of greenery. All your pines in one pile, all the boxwood in another.

Make a Bouquet

It is this “bouquet” concept that made Garland click for me. The basic idea of this method for garland is that you create several bouquets of greenery and lay them next to one another to create your garland form. This is also how you create a fresh green wreath. By attaching the bouquets around the circular template. In this tutorial, we are combining the concept of creating a garland and the concept of creating a fresh wreath.

Start by creating your first bouquet of live greenery.

Attach Your Bouquets to your Outline

One difficult part about working with fresh greens is that you do not want to see bare branches sticking out. You will continue to cover the end of each bouquet by layering your bouquets. This means you will be working on the ends of the twine first.

Start by taking hold of one of your bouquets and place the end of the rope halfway in the middle of the bouquet. Then wrap the bottom of the bouquet to the rope with the wire several times to keep it secure. DO NOT cut the wire.

Take your next bouquet and place it on top of your other bouquet, but halfway down. You are layering your bouquets so that the fullest part of the bouquet is on display and the ends are covered. You will continue to repeat this step until you reach where the other rope is tied to the wreath.

Once your first rope is covered, and half of your wreath is covered, start again at the end of the other rope. The last bouquet should be tucked under the bouquet that it is right next to. You may have to tie the garland and then rearrange the leaves to help cover the bottom pieces.

Add the toppings

Everything is more fun with toppings! For our class, we had dried oranges, pinecones, winter berries, little ornaments, and cinnamon sticks. If your garland is for a wedding, you could tuck flowers in the garland to match your color scheme. The options are endless.

Add your Glass Container

We took this glass container and sprayed the inside with an adhesive spray. We then poured Epsom salt into the container and let the salt cover the entire inside of the container. This gave our container a frosted look we loved. After your glue has completely dried and all your excess salt is dumped, you can place a candle into your container.

Add Your Candle

Nothing is more inviting in the center of the table than a candle. For sure, putting the candle in a glass container prevents wax from damaging your table and allows for candlelight reflection. The frosted glass gives extra life and reflection to the flickering candle and is truly one of my favorite Christmas table pieces.

Why Make Your Own Christmas Centerpiece?

Fresh Greenery Garland is an expensive item to purchase. Faux greenery just doesn’t have the same elegant look or the wonderful scent of Christmas. Making your own Christmas decorations is a fun and rewarding part of the holiday season.

How to get your Holiday Decorations with Fresh Greens to Last

I have never had a problem with my garland going bad quickly. I have talked to several students who have told me their garland lasted well into February. You do want to keep them out of direct sunlight and remember not to keep your house too warm. A cooler darker environment will keep it fresh long past Christmas dinner.