DIY Cranberry Topiary - Perfect for Your Last Minute Holiday Decor

Down from DC we are spending this week in sunny Sarasota, Florida. Without access to my normal flower suppliers it had me thinking about what was easy and festive to create. Having just had an opportunity to visit the White House, I was inspired by their long tradition of cranberry topiaries and thought this would be just perfect! If you didn’t have a chance to tune into Suncoast View, ABC 7 here is everything you need to DIY your own holiday topiary.

Step 1: Gather together all of your materials. You are going to need:

Styrofoam Shape

Spanish moss or Tinsel

Scissors

Spray Glue

Toothpicks

Cranberries

Step 2: Coat your shape with spray glue

Hint: It is easier to cover if you cut the moss/tinsel into smaller pieces.

Double Hint: You can make a spray booth out of an Amazon Box by just cutting one side. This helps to contain the mess and makes clean up easy!

Step 3: Re-apply one more coat and roll your shape over the moss/tinsel one more time.

Hint: If you are using Spanish Moss you might want to use Design Master Just for Flowers Spray paint to coat the moss red and create a richer texture.

Step 4: Cut your toothpicks in half

Step 5: Insert your toothpick into the bottom of your shape half way. Pop cranberry on!

Note: It is much easier to put the toothpick in first, rather then putting the toothpick on the cranberry and then trying to push it in. Trust me! Or try it for yourself:)

Step 6: Repeat! Repeat! Repeat!

Place your next toothpick half about 1/3 an inch to the left of your first cranberry.

Note: It looks best if you place the second row in-between the cranberries of the first row, this helps to keep it natural looking.

Step 7: Garnish with a few touches of peppery berry and pepper berry leaves tucked in.

If you still want more cranberry decor, check out my DIY Cranberry Candle!

White House Christmas Decorations 2018 to 2019

If you are like me, you love photos. So, if you are curious about the White House decorations this year and haven’t had the opportunity to go, please enjoy these photos from my family visit.

Children’s National Hospital and Light Up The Season on December 16, 2018 at The Four Seasons Hotel, Washington

The holidays are fast approaching and I wanted to take a minute to shine a light on a cause near and dear to my heart. It’s called Light Up the Season and it benefits Children’s National Hospital. The event (formerly known as The Georgetown Jingle) raises money to support the Hospital and is held every year at The Four Seasons Hotel. Each year, 12-15 of Washington’s top interior designers and florists are invited to decorate a tree or holiday item, like a wreath, menorah or mantle piece, that is then auctioned off at a fun family-friendly afternoon event (buy tickets here). Last summer, I was excited and honored to receive an email from the event’s organizers asking me to participate for the second year in a row.

The process works like this: Every designer is partnered with a Children’s National Hospital patient and together the patient “artist” and designer work to come up with a fantasy holiday theme. This summer, I had the pleasure of meeting a sweet young lady named Annabelle.

As I talked to Annabelle about what she would like to see on her tree, she drew the small picture below. Her favorite color is blue, her sister’s favorite color is lavender, and, of course, mine is purple. Naturally, we were already in harmony!

Annabelle very much liked the idea of woodland animals and an enchanted snowy forest. We also agreed there should be some bells on the tree as a nod to her name. After combining Annabelle’s ideas and my vision, I decided the theme of our tree would be “Over The River and Through The Woods.”

The next step was to begin the work of decorating a tree. In recent years, I have found myself missing the camaraderie and aesthetic kismet that comes from working with a large group of volunteer designers. Heavily influenced by my time in the White House Floral Shop under Former Chief Florist Laura Dowling, I wanted to recreate this experience and feeling. So I reached out to all my creative friends and asked them to help me #craftforacause. The response was incredible; I am so warmed by the generous people in my creative community!

I hosted the first #craftforacause party at my home in mid September. As the saying goes, “many hands make light work” and the attendees produced dozens of floral hoop wreaths made out of yarn and felt. Thanks to Anne Kelley, Carleigh Smith, Emily Alyssa, Jasmine Ellesse, Maria Kessel and Vicky Choy for kicking off #craftforacause!

Photo by Marie Windsor Photography

The second #craftforacause party was held on a beautiful late September day at Periwinkle, a lovely clothing boutique in Old Town, Alexandria. Marie Windsor Photography joined us and took lots of detailed photos. Pamela Vetrini of Cheats and Meeses brought us a delicious cheese board extravaganza to fuel our designs. The designers for our second party included Elizabeth from Periwinkle, Kelley Cannon, Janice Carnevale, Lindsay Kidwell, Jasmine Ellesse and Nicole Nespor. It was fun to see how unique everyone’s designs were and how different they were from the first party.

There was one more #craftforacause party this weekend and I can’t wait to show you those designs too!

The finishing touch on my tree comes from Accent Decor who generously donated dozens of beautiful glass and felt ornaments. These handcrafted ornaments are just what I needed to complete the tree’s wintery woodlands theme. While it is not guaranteed that Annabelle can attend the event, I sure hope she can because I think she will love what we have created.

Thank you to everyone who came out to #craftforacause. And thanks in advance to those will help set-up and decorate the tree in preparation for the big event on December 16. I’ll make sure to share pictures of the finished product once it is complete!