Caxton magazines staffTake the stress out of decorating this Christmas. Jeanine Weyer, Jo Harburn and Deborah Lennon of Muse in Kloof, KZN, show how easy it can be. All you need is a dash of ingenuity, spray paint and a few household items
READ MORE: A festive table setting with a local feel
- “For a romantic atmosphere that’s suitable for Christmas in summer stick to pale shades and natural textures,” advise the Muse team. Cover the table with a white cloth, use your best silver and glassware and lay on the candles and fairy lights. A chandelier adds the final touch.
- “We made these Christmas trees from unwanted paperbacks. Make your own by folding a page in two and cutting out the shape of half a tree. When you open it out it forms the whole tree. Cut four to eight sheets depending on how full you want your tree to look. Place them on top of each other, staple down the middle and open out the sections so they stand on their own.
- For each setting start with a neutral, but decorative base, like these paper placemats from Muse. You could also use sheet music. “We made the napkins from a length of leftover linen, which we tied with rustic twine and included a sprig of greenery and a cinnamon stick. To add an African feel we spray painted some plastic toy animals white.”
- Add a festive touch to your drinks table by using a mirrored tray and adding crystal glassware, white ceramics and baubles in a vase and simple greenery, like leylandii, in a silver jug.
- Use all the pretty glassware you have around the house to display baubles, fairy lights and candles. Glass jars and tins also work well. Dip the tops of glass jars in metallic paint or spray paint them lightly to add a subtle shine. Glass containers from Muse.
- As you’re unlikely to have a fire in summer, use loads of candles to make a focal point of the fireplace. “We updated the dusty green finish of these old moss balls with a dash of white spray paint.”
- Use spray paint liberally to make old decorations, or other items, fit in with your colour scheme. “We painted plastic toy animals and old star ornaments and used leftover fabric to make tree decorations.” If you’re a knitter, make miniature stockings to hang on the tree.
- “Instead of a conventional Christmas tree we used a dried sisal flower stem. We anchored it in a concrete umbrella stand, which we hid inside a wicker basket filled with white fabric, moss balls and fairy lights.”
KEEP READING: Festive Christmas decor to get you in the holiday spirit
