Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Golden State Christmas decorating idea


Stan's sister Sosie continues to amaze our readers, today with a Christmas decorating tip, worthy of a Californian making due at Christmas with no snow. She'll get plenty of snow when she arrives in Minnesota in the midst of a 40 percent chance of a blizzard disaster on Christmas Day, but until then she's basking in the warmth of a front stoop surrounded by painted nature. We'll let her explain this one:



Here's my tip for easy instant Christmas glam:  a can of gold spray paint.  Of gold, incense, and myrhh, gold is the fastest, cheapest, and clearest statement of Christmas cheer.  You can spray baskets, old and tired ornaments, the plastic pot containing your poinsetia, pine cones, dried pomegranates, leaves, seed heads, or anything else destined to decorate your wreaths or packages.

My favorite is the seed head of the agapanthus plant (aka Lily of the Nile) after the seeds have fallen away, as it looks like a magic wand.  No need to cut the stalks off the plant, as shown in this picture.  This way, you don't even need to arrange the wands as they remain displayed by the plant. Just be sure to throw a cover over the green leaves to protect them while you spray.  Note: The gold paint holds well through rain, but has not been tested in tundra temperatures.