Hola! All the years I've been decorating for Christmas, I've never had an "evergreen" garland on my mantel. I've decorated with white feather boas with white lights woven in and out, and lots of silver and gold; one year at the second Maison Newton home (that I sold in 2014 to retire to the current Maison Newton) I clipped some evergreen branches from shrubs in my backyard and used them on the mantel and also in the dining area in floral displays. Some years I've done more simple decorations with ornaments, white lights and candles - no feather boas, no garlands. But never anything with an actual "evergreen" garland.
So, this year, I thought - of course after I'd already sent in a steady stream of orders to various online vendors with no garland ordered - "Hey, why not see if you can find a nice artificial evergreen garland and use that to decorate the mantel this year."
I shopped, and shopped, and shopped online until I nearly dropped (but did not). I wanted as inexpensive an evergreen garland as possible, and as luxuriously looking as possible, thick and fluffy, two goals (price versus looks) that seemed to be on opposite ends of the Rainbow.
But, after visiting and revisiting several vendors and checking out endless streams of garlands until it felt like my eyes were going to fall out, I settled on a garland I kept going back to at Michael's online store. I decided to "up" the price I was willing to pay a bit, and I ended up purchasing this 6 foot Douglas Fir and Pinecone Garland by Ashland:
I got in on sale for $17.99 (regularly $29.99). Here's a link. I did pay extra for delivery, but it was worth it as there is no Michael's store that I could easily reach travelling by foot or bus from where I live.
The garland arrived today and I have to tell you - it's gorgeous! It is made entirely out of soft PE (not PVC) so each of the bristles has a very realistic appearance and the garland is soft to the touch and totally flexible, there is no wire in it as there is in garland made from PVC. The pinecones are a good size (but not gigantic) and very realistic looking.
LOVE! It really is beautiful garland and a steal (I think) at $17.99. It is not "thick" per se, but I intend to interweave one or two of my white feather boas in and out of the branches to make it look sort of like "snow." There will also be lights interwoven and some ornaments and/or glittery floral picks, maybe all together. And maybe some battery-operated candles. Artistic license - you know how that goes, LOL!
I can't wait to start decorating the mantel. I've been watching Youtube videos left and right, and going through Pinterest images until my head is spinning. I'm starting my Christmas decorating earlier this year. I hope the living room including the new Christmas tree I purchased, will be finished by Thanksgiving Day so I can spend Thanksgiving luxuriating in a fully decorated room. I started shoving the furniture around and vacuuming yesterday, will finish that today and maybe unbox the new tree and get it assembled.
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