Five popular Christmas and New Year decorations from around the world that will surely find a place in every home.
One of the most popular Christmas decorations around the world is the Christmas wreath. Its shape symbolizes the wheel of life without beginning or end. A wreath is made of spruce branches or straw twisted into a tight bundle, and decorated with small toys, balls, dried or fresh flowers, cinnamon sticks. Usually the wreath is hung on the door or placed on a festive table with four lit candles. His style can be absolutely any – strict (if the wreath is made up of only spruce or pine branches) and unusually bright – it is enough to weave ribbons, Christmas balls, gilded cones into it.
If you prefer to support the New Year’s legend, discreetly leaving gifts in various corners of the house, then a Christmas boot (aka Santa’s sock, or Father Frost’s boots) will be just right for such a surprise. Stock up on such shoes in advance for each family member or guest. And hang it all over the apartment before the holiday. By the way, the Christmas boot is a great parenting tool. Tell the children an old legend: “On Christmas Day Santa Claus goes from door to door and discreetly puts presents in his boots. Obedient children – sweets. And the hooligans are given lumps of coal. ” See, they will behave like silk.
Traditional Christmas potpourri uses “winter”, warming spices – cinnamon sticks, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, cocoa, citrus fruits (whole or dried slices). All these fragrant ingredients are put in a glass vase (or on a dish) and placed on the dining table, in the living room, in the kitchen or in the bathroom.
To maintain the aroma, you can occasionally sprinkle the potpourri with a suitable aromatic oil (such as orange). Just do it carefully, because some elements of the composition (for example, tangerines) can darken from oil droplets. Lit candles are best kept away.
There is never too much festive illumination! We take out all the candlesticks that you can find in the house: the more colored glass, the more effective the lighting will turn out. Any container will do – saucers, cups, glasses, curly jam jars. We place candles throughout the apartment. Mandatory items are a festive table and window sills. If you wish, you can make candles with your own hands, pouring paraffin melted in a water bath into the peel of a whole orange (such a candle will turn out to be very fragrant) or a sea shell. Place floating candles in transparent low vases or glasses with bright stones and shells at the bottom filled with water. Instead of water, you can use variegated beans, pebbles brought from the south, or sand.
Pomanders are scented balls made from oranges and clove sticks. Making them on New Year’s Eve can become a family tradition, because even a child can stick to an orange with fragrant carnations. Tie the oranges with beautiful velvet, satin, silk or organza ribbons. After that, fill the free surface with clove sticks, sticking them with the sharp end into the peel. Do not forget to constantly blot the leaking juice with a napkin so as not to stain the tapes. You can stick the carnations evenly into each section, or you can lay out some intricate pattern.
Ready-made pomanders are hung on a Christmas tree, used to decorate a room, or placed in a Christmas potpourri. They can also be given to guests. They persist for a very long time. Over time, as they dry, the oranges shrink in size, exuding a wonderful aroma. Place dried pomanders in a hermetically sealed container filled with winter spices for several weeks to replenish their wonderful aroma, and then use them as part of a scent composition for the bathroom or kitchen.