Winter Decorating with Pine

As you probably know, I really enjoy the flowers surrounding my house, garden, wild in the woods, and seeing their beauty all summer. With our long winters, there are many months of the year with no flowers growing outdoors here. So, I do some winter decorating with

mostly pine, and a few flowers. And it's really easy! There's always pine trees in need of a trim where they are encroaching across roads or lanes, or thick patches of trees that benefit from a little thinning. So lots of pine branches are very easy to get here. You might have shrubbery crowding the side of your house or a sidewalk that can provide the same thing.

Watch the video below for a detailed look at how I put arrangements like these together. The above photo is the newest one in my house right now. Greens and blues with a bit of white or silver always looks so wintery and beautiful to me. That one is actually one of my most favorites I've ever done. If you're into Christmas and the traditional colors for that, you could of course do more red and white. Which I occasionally do when making one as a gift for a friend. 

 Check out some of the other possible variations of designs and color combos I've done. A few for myself and many for various friends. If you remember to keep them watered, the flowers will generally last for a 10 days or so, and the pine for two months. You can add fresh flowers when the first round expires if you like, or just enjoy all the textures of the pine for a while. 

Another option is to make swags of various kinds. I like to hang one on each side of the door for a little more winter color. As I bought the ribbon for the bows years ago, and just reuse them every year, and all the pine branches are free, so the only expense involved is a bit of wire to hold them together.

Burley seems to approve. :) Here's another video with how I put these together. Also very simple to do. 

And a few examples of other ones I've done over the years. Usually I just leave them plain pine, but you can add other things like the one below I did for a friend one winter with some antique sleigh bells she had. 

If any of that sounds fun to you, give it a shot and comment with how it went! There's really no wrong way to put anything together. Much like most cooking, just go with whatever you like most. What do you do to be able to enjoy some natural beauty through the winter?