Irene Hill can't wait for Christmas. Her front door is as merry as it gets, with ribbons and bows and cedar boughs.
Inside, every table is already set. In fact, Hill has four different, spectacular table designs all ready and complete with matching napkins, plates and decorative service plates, along with greenery and floral arrangements. Her Christmas tree is up too and if Hill could, she'd leave the whole shebang —the tree, the extra pretty table ornaments and all the knick-knacks — up until Easter.
"I start decorating November 12. I think that's only respectful to wait until after Remembrance Day. Most of my decorations are up well into the spring until my husband finally says, 'Irene! It's time!'" Hill said.
Hill is a long-time member of St. Albert Floral Arts Society and you might guess that flowers are what she likes most about the season. In fact, it's the smiles she sees — especially those that are in reaction to her Christmas decorations — that give her the most joy.
"Everyone is cheerful. Wherever you go there is cheerful colour and anticipation. I never think about gifts," she said, as she explained that for her, sharing the warmth of Christmas, including teaching people how to decorate with floral arts, is what brings her happiness.
"It's something I learned early. When I was a little girl in the Netherlands, I hollowed out a potato and put a candle in it. Then I put tissue paper around it to make a table decoration," she said.
Every December, Hill and members of the St. Albert Floral Arts Society teach courses on how to make a door swag as well as how to set a pretty table. Here are some of Hill's tricks:
Materials
• 20 centimetre block of floral oasis
• one bundle of Douglas fir branches
• half bundle of cedar branches
• half bundle of boxwood branches
• several pine cones
• two metres of 20-centimetre-wide ribbon
Steps
Soak the oasis until it is saturated with water.
Trim the pointed end of the fir branches and begin poking them into the oasis.
The first four branches should be about 30 centimetres long and are placed so that they form a diamond shape. The longest piece hangs down to make the bottom of your diamond shape, so try to find a branch that has a nice point on it. Place the branches into the oasis so they are horizontal and flat.
Cut off smaller pieces of fir about five to six centimetres in length and begin placing them between the longer places. Always try to keep them as flat as possible. Fill in all the spaces so that the oasis is hidden.
To change the colour and texture, begin laying flat branches of five to six-centimetre long cedar on top of the fir. Next add a layer of boxwood branches. Add a few branches of oregonia or holly or bright-red berries.
Poke a wire into several pinecones and then place them into the swag. Cones that have been roasted in the oven to release the seeds look best. For an extra bit of oomph, dip the end of the cones in white paint and allow to dry before placing into your swag.
Make a big bunny-ear-shaped bow and wire it onto the swag.
Place your completed swag flat on a picnic table or on the ground to freeze overnight. Then use pipe cleaners to hang it on the door. The frozen oasis will keep the arrangement fresh-looking for several weeks.
Four festive tables
Hill's table settings always include three colours and follow the same formula of colour breakdown. The main colour gets 60 per cent, the first accent colour gets 30 per cent and the final accent colour gets 10 per cent.
"If you use that formula, you can't go wrong," Hill said.
Hill's dining room table is set with a cream-coloured cloth that has sheen to it. Cream is the main colour in this setting. Thirty per cent of the setting is dark brown and the remaining 10 per cent is bronze/copper or gold.
Down the length of the centre of the table, Hill swirled alternating layers of striped cream, taupe and copper metallic ribbons and another layer of shimmering copper mesh ribbon.
Ornaments are all in the same colour combinations. The candle is two-toned cream and brown and the centrepiece consists of two 30-centimetre tall gold-coloured high-heeled boot-shaped vases made from mesh. The boots are filled with brown feathers. "They are for fun and to make you smile," said Hill, adding that any vase or special ornament that suited the colour arrangement, would work as a centrepiece. "Look around and see what you have in the closet," she said.
Hill used a chocolate-coloured charger plate under an amber-coloured glass dinner plate. On top of each plate she folded a cream-coloured napkin and topped it off with a brown glass ball. "I give the glass ball away to the dinner guests," Hill said.
Red and green, step by step:
Use a forest green cloth with red napkins and a white plate.
If you have a black vase, place it on a silver-coloured chiffon cloth with white napkins and black dishes. In this case, silver is the main colour. Ornaments could be silver leaves with a touch of red, or tiny silver trees. Use clear, crystal balls as plate toppers. A touch of gold makes this setting look very elegant.
Try the following unusual arrangement: 60 per cent lime green, 30 per cent dark green accents; and 10 per cent mauve or plum. "Don't forget something in glass, for this arrangement," Hill said.
