Summer is a surprisingly good time to start Christmas craft projects – it is too hot to be outside, and doing this work in July rather than December is the difference between enjoying it and rushing it.
There are plenty of simple, inexpensive things that make good Christmas gifts. A basket of poinsettias is one of my favourites, and anyone can do it.
What you need
An inexpensive basket – dollar stores and pound shops have them for very little. A hot glue gun. Artificial poinsettia stems. Some filler for the base, and ribbon if you want it.
The whole thing can be made for a few pounds, which is what makes it worth making in quantity.
Building it
Fill the base first. Crumpled paper, a block of floral foam, or anything that gives the stems something to sit in at the right height. Without it the flowers sink and the arrangement looks sparse.
Cut the stems to length before gluing anything. Poinsettia stems come long and the arrangement almost always wants them shorter than they arrive.
Work from the outside in. Place the outer stems first, angled slightly outward so they break the line of the basket rim, then fill toward the centre with the taller ones.
Use odd numbers of the largest blooms. Three or five reads as arranged; four reads as symmetrical and slightly dead.
Making it look considered rather than assembled
Vary the heights. A dome of flowers all at one level looks artificial in the wrong way; some standing higher than others reads as natural.
Let some greenery show. Poinsettia leaves are part of the plant and an arrangement of nothing but red bracts looks like a wreath rather than a plant.
Hide the mechanics. Any visible foam, paper or glue undoes the effect entirely – tuck moss, greenery or ribbon around the base until nothing structural shows.
Glue gun notes
Use it sparingly and press each stem for a few seconds. A visible string of hardened glue is very difficult to remove without damaging what it is attached to.
A low-temperature gun is worth having if children are helping.
Variations
The same construction takes anything: spring bulbs, autumn foliage, dried flowers. Once you have made one, the method transfers to any season.
Adding a few glass baubles among the flowers gives it some sparkle for very little effort, and a wide ribbon around the basket finishes it.
Making several
This is a project worth batching. Buy the baskets and stems in quantity, set aside an afternoon, and make six at once. The setup and clearing up are the same for one as for six.
