Christmas Window Boxes

One of my favourite things about moving to the country is using Mother Nature's bounty to decorate and now that I'm a country girl, I can peruse the garden centre flyers and mock their outrageous prices for items I can find behind my house for free. 

I also thank my lucky stars.

When it came time to decorate our new window boxes, built by the Artist this summer, I searched the internet for a little inspiration but there wasn't a lot to be found. So with secateurs in hand, and an empty wheelbarrow, off we went to the spooky woods to see what we could find. 

We found a few treasures, and on a cold and high wind alert Sunday afternoon, the Artist did some fine arranging while I did important stuff like cutting the branches and keeping the camera warm.

And, let's not forget, I danced the shutterbug.

Just for you.

Note: Security dog on yard patrol is not required, but it adds a nice touch to your photos.

We started by placing several layers of styrofoam in the boxes. You could just use the dirt from planter boxes used for summer flowers but you must then plan ahead and make these before the dirt freezes. Keep in mind, a planter of dirt placed in front of a roaring fire for many hours will not thaw. Really. Save yourself the effort and go directly to the hardware store. 

Then we added lots and lots of white pine along the front and sides of the window box. Luckily, our neighbours lost a branch during a windstorm the week before, so we had pine o'plenty. (Lucky for us, that is, the tree not so much.)

Before we got any further carried away with adding greenery, we added lights throughout the pine.

Along the back, we added spruce branches for height.

 

Next, the Artist nestled some of his favourite, red dogwood branches, in between the spruce and pine.

Then we added some milkweed, which I dusted with a hint of gold spray paint to give them a little extra oomph.

Then we added some watchyamacallit. There was lots of it in the woods, and I liked the extra texture that it gives. 

I searched high and low for red berries. In my books, it isn't a Christmas arrangement without red berries but they don't flourish in my neck of the woods and were difficult to find but determination prevailed.

Next year, I plan on taking my binoculars to search for them, or I could get new glasses. Who knows, maybe I'll flip a coin.

I just hope in the end, I have a lovely display and an Artist to make it for me. 

~Let it snow friends!~