Christmas Yard Decorations

This is a poor relative of the fabulous Poinsettias that are ubiquitous this time of year. I actually posted this picture in September, but with the beautiful big red ones everywhere these days, I thought you might have forgotten where they came from.

In summer I have annuals in several large pots around the yard. I used these pots to stage groups of greenery decorated with ribbon and sprayed sticks. I like the winged sweet gum sticks, but plum twigs with their bumpy surfaces and fruiting spurs are also good. Dogwood stems are also beautiful.  Most of the stems I sprayed silver and one set I sprayed red to look like the red stem dogwood (Cornus sericea). This was a fun and simple project.
 The mailbox decoration used an assortment of local evergreen trees and shrubs as well as some dried berries that I sprayed lightly with artificial snow. The base is a styrofoam block with attached wire usually used for artificial flowers on head stones. It fits the top of a mailbox just right.