In This Issue:
- Visit My New Blog Website
- History of the Christmas Tree
- Arranging Flowers into Wreaths
- Carnation Christmas Tree Arrangement to Make
- Tell Us What You Think
Visit My New Blog Website
I am excited to announce that I have
started a new Blog website. You can access it by going to
http://www.artisticflowerarrangements.com/blog.
There is no sales pitch or hype, just me and my flowers and
sometimes an item on what life is like living in the mountains
of Tennessee.
So please meander on over and spend some
time. Let me know what you think and leave a comment.
I would love to hear from you. Let your friends know too.
The more the merrier!
Hope to see you at my Blog . . . . . Judy
History of the Christmas Tree
Every year about this time, we all start
thinking toward the holidays. One holiday tradition in
particular is so popular that most of us never really question
where it came from… but why is it that we cut down a tree and
put it in our house to celebrate Christmas? Here’s the story of
where the Christmas tree came from.
Christmas as we know it had its origins in ancient times.
Evergreen trees and bushes were held sacred by the ancient
pagans. They believed that these plants that didn’t die in the
winter would ward off evil spirits. Many pagans worshiped the
sun as a god, and believed that each year the sun god would
become sick in the wintertime because he wasn’t able to heat and
light the earth for as long a period of time. So each year on
the 21st or 22nd of December, pagans would celebrate the winter
solstice, which is the shortest day of the year. They believed
that this day would mark the beginning of the sun gods recovery
from his illness and that the evergreen decorations would ward
off evil and help him heal.
The ancient Egyptians held similar beliefs, but since
pine trees
didn’t grow on the Nile delta, Egyptians decorated with palm
leaves instead. Early Roman pagans had similar beliefs but the
winter solstice feast was held in honor of their god of
agriculture, Saturn. It was believed that the winter solstice
meant that the fields would soon be green and lush again.
The Germans are largely credited with the Christmas tree
traditions we know today. Christians would bring trees into
their homes and decorate them with apples, making what was known
at the time as a “Paradise Tree” to represent the Tree of
Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. It was associated with the
Paradise Plays which were preformed in English and Spanish
churches and Medieval villages during Advent. The plays told the
story of people from the creation of Adam and Eve and the Garden
of Eden up to the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.
To decorate a Paradise tree for your home, use either a live or
artificial green tree. Hang artificial red apples and white
representative communion wafers from the branches. Use all white
miniature lights. In keeping with the Paradise Play timeline of
Adam and Eve to Bethlehem, display a Nativity set on a bed of
white under the tree.
Another fixture in Christian homes was the Christmas light. It
was a pyramid shaped frame, covered in pine boughs and lit on
top with a candle to symbolize the birth of Jesus, who was
considered the light of the world.
Sometime in the 16th century, people started combining the two
traditions into one. It is believed by some that this was the
result of the protestant reformer, Martin Luther, recreating a
scene for his family. The legend says that Martin Luther was
walking home through the woods one night and looked up to see
the stars shining brightly between the branches of the pine
trees. So in an effort to share this with his family, Luther
wired candles to the branches of the family’s tree, but kept the
light at the top and told them that this was to symbolize a
beautiful Christmas sky. Hence the Christmas tree was born.
Christmas trees didn’t find their way to the American
continent
until the middle part of the 18th century, and even then,
Christmas trees were still largely confined to the German
communities in Pennsylvania. These communities typically had one
community tree. It wasn’t until 100 years later that the
Christmas tree really became popular. Queen Victoria and her
German husband, Prince Albert, were sketched with their
children, gathered around a Christmas tree in 1848. Since Queen
Victoria was extremely popular, Christmas trees quickly became
the fashion, and it has remained so ever since.
Arranging Flowers into Wreaths
Usually about this time of year, we start
to see all sorts of festive decorations show up on homes. One of
the most popular types of decorations is the holiday wreath.
Wreaths are actually popular all year long, but are a sure sign
that Thanksgiving and Christmas is on the way. Wreath making is
a great family project, no matter what time of year. Here we’ll
discuss about all the different ways you can use whatever
flowers, berries and branches are in season to make fun wreaths.
Wreaths have been around since ancient times, when they were
called diadems. The term originates from the Greek word diadema,
which means “a thing bound
around”. Throughout time, wreaths
have held different meanings, based on what they were
constructed of. For instance wreaths made of holly sprigs were
said to protect the woodland spirits from the cold. A wreath of
birch or hazel would signify if a girl accepted a suitor or not
and since circles have always been a symbol of eternity, having
no beginning or end, they were used in funeral services to
signify eternal life.
Arranging flowers and branches into wreaths is easy and can be
done in a variety of ways. It is only limited by your
imagination and it is an inexpensive project to do with the
family. Many families either buy pine boughs, or they trim
excess branches from their Christmas tree to make the wreath
each year. Fresh pine wreaths smell heavenly and they are
versatile, looking just as festive as a holiday centerpiece with
a hurricane candle in the center as they do hanging on a wall or
door.
Arranging wreaths is simple. You can use a Styrofoam form, or
you can get one that is premade from dried branches and just add
your own flowers, pine branches and berries. For those who want
a little more of a challenge you can take fresh pine boughs and
form them into a circle and tie them off with heavy cord or
wire. From there you can add all sorts of festive holiday
touches such as poinsettia flowers, holly sprigs, wheat sheaves,
even cranberries. The trick is just to be creative.
Arranging wreaths isn’t just limited to the holiday season
either. You can make lovely arrangements no matter what the
season. In spring you can use a
variety of beautiful flowers,
such as roses, daisies, or lilies. Whatever happens to be
available is fine. In summer time you can use beautiful
hydrangeas or roses or decorate the wreath with starfish and
seashells. Patriotic themed wreaths are fun as well and can be
made with any variety of flowers in red, white and blue. In
fall, wreaths made of wheat sheaves to symbolize the harvest
before winter is very popular. Wreaths created in the beautiful
colors of the natural fall foliage are fun as well.
You can use natural or artificial flowers to make wreaths. Some
flowers have a short life span, so they would not be ideal for a
wreath that you’d like to last the entire season. A variation of
the wreath is the garland, and can be made and decorated in
similar ways, but instead of forming into a circle, just make
one long line and use it to decorate mantles, stair railings,
eaves, tables, or anywhere else you would like.
Here are some samples of wreaths made of
other materials:
An apple wreath.
A pepper wreath.
A feather wreath.
A floral heart wreath.
A skull and bones wreath.
Carnation Christmas Tree
Arrangement
A super
simple arrangement for you to make.
Get the instructions to make this
arrangement by
clicking here.
Tell Us What you Think
We'd love to hear what you think of this issue!
Your feedback matters to us!
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even your local florist, by creating unique and gorgeous floral works of art?
With the step-step techniques in
Flower Arrangements Made Simple
YOU CAN!
You could take a floral arranging course at your local college or
design school and easily pay $700 or more for training as a floral design specialist. It could take you a year or more of having to do arrangements the way a teacher explains them instead of allowing you the freedom to experiment and unleash your own hidden potential.
When you order Flower Arrangements Made Simple, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Enjoy splendid arrangements that YOU
create in your home.
Flower Arrangements Made Simple
