This year, I’ve created two very different Christmas fireplace garlands at home. One was a commission for Red Magazine, encapsulating on-trend colours in fashion and interiors for 2020. The other was an asymmetrical design, made from mostly artificial foliage so it would last all of the festive season.

When Red asked me to create a fireplace garland in my home for their January 2021 issue, I knew that I needed to push the boat out with the design, so I took it up and over the mirror. The main base over the mantel was created by pushing the foliage and the florals into a long oasis block (you can view a full video on how to create this part below), but to get it up and across the mirror, I used copper floral mesh shaped into a tall triangle that I hung with Command hooks. I then tucked in the flowers placed in flower tubes full of water to keep them fresh.

The colour spectrum for this garland was to range from browns and burgundy colours to peachy pinks. Like previous garlands that I have created, I used a base of Eucalyptus; this time including a lot of the red-berried Euclayptus as this worked with my colour palette. Threaded into the foliage was also some dyed pink fern - a dried flower I picked up at New Covent Garden Market and fell in love with. Also included in this display are roses, dahlias, chocolate cosmos, pink pampas grass, dried wheat, blushing bride and dried coral broom.

I was delighted for the mantel design to get a whole page in the interiors section of Red. For a full tutorial on how I created this garland, stream the video below which I created for Red’s social channels.

With all the fresh flowers, this garland is perfect for an event or a party, but only expect it to live for 5-7 days (the same as if the flowers were in a vase). In contrast, the asymmetrical design that I created will last until you take it down as it is built using artificial flowers and hardy willow branches!

For this mantel garland, I knew I wanted to hang some decorations off the willow branches that I had picked up a couple of months earlier. The design wouldn’t have looked very balanced if it went across the whole of the mantel, so I created a ‘triange’ on one side instead.

As well as paper decorations, I also made some tumbling decorations using raffia and cotton pods. I purchased two packs of the cotton pods and glued them together using hot glue. I made about 20 decorations in total for less than £8! They were great for this display as they are really light, so they don’t drag down the willow and snap the branches.

I stood the branches up in some dried floral foam wrapped in wire to a secure, heavy marble tray. I then inserted a number of faux floral sprays in the foam and wrapped some trailing faux ivy through the branches and across the fireplace. I did also add some real Eucalyptus as I had a lot to hand. This just dried out nicely, but you can also use faux Eucalyptus. As well as the hanging decorations, I also added in bunches of dried peppercorns just draped over the artificial sprays and secured in some fir cones with floristry wire. While these are all very ‘traditional Christmas’ items, don’t be afraid to experiment and make your mantel garland unique and personal to your own style! Some of the best alternative garlands that I have seen have used coloured paper, neon signs (visit NeonSigns.com for great value neon) and fabric samples!

This garland will last as long as you like until you want to take it down, and the cotton pod decorations can be saved until next year!