Home Help: 7 December
There are certain overexcited members in every family during the runup to Christmas who, in their enthusiasm to put up the festive decorations, will fix them to the wall with Blu- Tack, Sellotape, and even drawing pins.
But this year there is an alternative, which doesn’t remove paint, leave marks or holes. Command products by 3M – www.3Mselect.co.uk – is a range of clear plastic hooks that the company says won’t damage the decor.
On the subject of Christmas decorations, a reader who has just moved to a smaller house says she doesn’t want a bulky fir tree this year and is looking for alternative ideas.
Floral designer Kitty Arden, who worked on the display of flowers for the Queen’s Jubilee barge, suggests shaping laurel and ivy into a tree. A degree of dexterity is needed to execute her plan, but the effect will be unique and the cost low.
‘Glue pieces of Oasis floral foam (available from florists and garden centres) together and cut into a tree shape,’ she suggests. ‘To make it stand firm, stick a bamboo cane through the middle, add chicken wire around the exterior and thread laurel and ivy leaves through the wire.’ Who says Christmas trees have to be threedimensional?
Spin Collective, meanwhile, offers a range of different Christmas tree wall-stickers. You can also personalise your own online.
Paperchase sells a range of alternative Christmas ‘trees’, including a five-foot-high decorative cone covered in sequins. It has a slim profile so won’t take up as much space as a real tree. Alternatively, you could use Command’s clear hooks to run a line of Christmas decorations down the wall.
If greenery is an essential part of the occasion for you, however, the humble poinsettia is being given a designer makeover by top florists, such as Simon Lycett – www.simonlycett.co.uk – and Paula Pryke. The flowers, which don’t only come in red, white and pink, have been fashioned into balls and wound round candles into an attractive table decoration.
Main image above:
From right to left:
Email design enquiries to Hugh St Clair at homehelp@lady.co.uk
But this year there is an alternative, which doesn’t remove paint, leave marks or holes. Command products by 3M – www.3Mselect.co.uk – is a range of clear plastic hooks that the company says won’t damage the decor.
On the subject of Christmas decorations, a reader who has just moved to a smaller house says she doesn’t want a bulky fir tree this year and is looking for alternative ideas.
Floral designer Kitty Arden, who worked on the display of flowers for the Queen’s Jubilee barge, suggests shaping laurel and ivy into a tree. A degree of dexterity is needed to execute her plan, but the effect will be unique and the cost low.
‘Glue pieces of Oasis floral foam (available from florists and garden centres) together and cut into a tree shape,’ she suggests. ‘To make it stand firm, stick a bamboo cane through the middle, add chicken wire around the exterior and thread laurel and ivy leaves through the wire.’ Who says Christmas trees have to be threedimensional?
Spin Collective, meanwhile, offers a range of different Christmas tree wall-stickers. You can also personalise your own online.
Paperchase sells a range of alternative Christmas ‘trees’, including a five-foot-high decorative cone covered in sequins. It has a slim profile so won’t take up as much space as a real tree. Alternatively, you could use Command’s clear hooks to run a line of Christmas decorations down the wall.
If greenery is an essential part of the occasion for you, however, the humble poinsettia is being given a designer makeover by top florists, such as Simon Lycett – www.simonlycett.co.uk – and Paula Pryke. The flowers, which don’t only come in red, white and pink, have been fashioned into balls and wound round candles into an attractive table decoration.
Main image above:
- Floral designer Kitty Arden suggests making a Christmas tree shape out of laurel and ivy: www.kittyarden.com
- Christmas tree wallsticker, £20, Spin Collective: www.spincollective.co.uk
From right to left:
- Christmas poinsettia decorations by florist Paula Pryke: www.paulapryke.com
- Christmas tree, £35, Paperchase: 020-7467 6200, www.paperchase.co.uk
Email design enquiries to Hugh St Clair at homehelp@lady.co.uk