Jolly Blossoms Christmas Tree

If you are stopping in from my Jolly Blossoms mantel, you'll know that I took this mission from House Beautiful very seriously:

Whatever your taste may be, one thing is certain:

Christmas is the time, in the matter of decoration, to let the fancy roam,

to be inventive, creative, gay, light-hearted and unafraid.

~House Beautiful 1962

For the Christmas tree this meant embracing a garden theme with a bounty of blooms spilling across the branches. Grapevine wraps the tree in twisting twigs. Red, pink, and white gingham ribbon poufs amongst the pine. Gold holly sparkles. Flickering lanterns dance. And festive bells swoop down the side.

This tree has a lot going on, and I LOVE it!

Using Grapevine on a Floral Christmas Tree

The first layer of the tree is grapevine. I used wreaths broken down into twisting coils. It took two 18" diameter wreaths and one 12" to wrap this 7.5' 55"D tree. Starting at the top, I let the vine coil around and down the tree, working with the curling shape. I really wanted to bring some rustic texture to the Christmas tree and echo the branches and vines you would find in a winter garden. Here's a few tips on adding grapevine to your tree:

1. Shop your local thrift stores to pick up grapevine wreaths. I bought three for $15.
2. Break down the wreaths outside because it is going to be messy. Wear gloves.
3. After you get three to five feet uncoiled cut it off from the rest of the vine. It is easier to manipulate around your tree in sections.
4. You have to work with the coil of the grapevine, but you can manipulate it a bit by securing sections with floral wire to the branches of your evergreen tree.

Here is a process view of the tree as I wrapped grapevine around it: