Foraging in the garden to create Christmas cheer

Left decorating to the last minute? Raid the fruit bowl, nip into into your garden or visit a local wood to create some festive cheer, writes EDEL MORGAN

BEFORE COMING across florist James Bailie, I thought foraging for Christmas decorations meant rooting through piles of tinsel and baubles in TK Maxx. Bailie, however, says you need look no further than your garden or nearby park to find most the materials you need to decorate your home.

The only financial outlay is a florist’s oasis (about €2-€3), a few satsuma oranges and apples and, if you can’t envisage a Christmas without bling, a can of silver spray paint.

Bringing parts of the natural world indoors during the darkest time of the year dates back to pagan times. Bailey is a former Blue Peter disciple and grew up turning cornflake boxes and toilet roll inserts into all manner of elaborate creations.

“Making decorations is all about having fun and mixing them with things you already have. There are no set rules,” he says.Here are some of his tips:

A good way to create the festive mood is to bring the smell of Christmas into the house. “And not by using plug-in air fresheners,” says Bailie. “I hate them.”

A cheaper and more environmentally-friendly alternative is to stud clementines or satsumas with cloves and place them in an attractive dish on the table.

To make divine smelling potpourri, slice a medium-sized orange thinly and put it on an oven tray sliced and sprinkle with cinnamon. “Leave it on a on low oven for a couple of hours.”

To make a garland you can use Christmas tree branches, ivy, berries, evergreen foliage, hydrangea heads, skimmia, dried leaves, fir cones and fresh apples. Christmas trees are cut from the bottom, and Bailie says the people who sell them are often “grateful to get rid of the cut-off branches if it saves them hiring a skip.”

To make a circular garland for the table, get an oasis soaked in water and flower food, and place in a bowl. Cut your Christmas tree branches to about two inches with the end going into the oasis cut in a point. Add cuttings from an ivy and/or holly bush, fir cones mounted on wire and apples on lollipop sticks. You can also use cuttings from hedgerows. “Don’t be afraid, it doesn’t have to be symmetrical,” he says.

You can also mount candles on lollipop sticks and stick them in the oasis to give the garland extra height. For longer lasting candles, he advises putting them in the freezer for a day or two.

“Birch is wonderful as a mini-Christmas tree for someone living in an apartment or an old person living alone.” You can spray three 3ft branches silver and put them in a 1ft glass vase. Branches cost €1-€1.50 in any good florists,

“I use a lot of apples, mounted on lollipop sticks, and incorporate them into door swags or garlands, and spray with leaf shine which gives them the most fantastic gleam.”

Gypsophila or “baby’s breath” set into a Christmas tree looks like snow, if you lay it on branches.

To add some bling, stick diamonds from the craft shop around a small glass to transform it into a night light holder. He gets his stickable diamonds in Star School supplies in Sandymount, Dublin.

Mix your natural decorations with ones you’ve collected over the years. “Use what you have,” says Bailie who decorated his mantlepiece arrangement with a star he bought previously.