Bring holiday cheer to a friend with a tree-shape arrangement.

 

Try decorating your mantel with a
temporary tree.

• Gallon-size plastic pot
• Large, heavy rubber band
• Large pieces of bark
• Long flexible vines
• Floral wire
• Sheet moss
• Floral foam
• Fresh evergreen cuttings such as juniper or pine
• Florist's flowers, holly berries, and variegated ivy
• Florist's water vials and florist's picks (from a floral supply shop)
• Pinecones sprayed gold

1. Stretch a rubber band around the pot. Slip pieces of bark under the rubber band, aligning the bottom of each piece with the bottom of the pot; the top of each piece should extend above the rim as shown. Wrap vines around the container over the rubber band; secure the ends with a twist of floral wire.

 

Step 2

2. Tuck sheet moss between the pieces of bark. Fill the pot with floral foam, wedging one full block in the center to extend above the rim by an amount equal to the height of the container.

 

Step 3

3. Assemble fresh flowers in bunches in water vials. Wire bunches of holly berries to florist's picks and wrap wire around the pinecones.

 

Step 4

4. Cover the sides and top of the floral foam with sheet moss. Place a 12-inch-long branch of juniper in the center of the floral foam. Insert additional shorter branches into the sides of the foam to create a cone-shape tree. Let some of the lower branches extend below the sides of the container. Insert the ivy, holly berries, pinecones, and water vials of fresh flowers, spacing them randomly around the tree. Place the materials so they radiate out from the trunk, following the lines of the evergreen branches.