Centerpiece Design for Multiple Seasons
November 10, 2025 Meeting
At the end of the regular meeting, a workshop gave members an opportunity to design a centerpiece for multiple seasons. The emphasis was on using evergreens from one’s yard to make holiday centerpieces without buying materials.
Because of the time of year, designs were focused on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Members were encouraged to bring evergreens from their yard to use in their design. Examples on the table above are: holly, gold mop cypress, rhododendron, yew, arborvitae, euonymus, boxwood, and pachysandra. Dried hydrangea flowers, natural or sprayed a different color, could also be used.
Other items to have on hand are:
Any other evergreens not listed above, about 10-15 inches in length
Container -medium size, about 5” x 7” x 2” or less deep, such as a soup bowl, large tuna can, etc.
Oasis or needle point to fit in the container. Presoak the oasis or secure the needle point.
Hand pruners
Gloves
Once a design is made, it can be used for a different holiday by keeping most of the greens and adding new accent colors or ribbons.
Rectangular Design.
The first design that was demonstrated used a rectangular container.
Charlotte Crissey is holding a rectangular container filled with oasis and secured with floral tape. Two branches are inserted into opposite ends of the oasis, to establish the boundaries of the design.
Mary Jo Gardill begins to look for other evergreens to continue with the design.
More evergreens are inserted around the edges of the oasis. Yew and boxwood were used in this design.
After the edge is established, the rest of the arrangement is filled in with more evergreens, using different colors and textures. Remember to keep it low enough that people seated on opposite sides of the table can see each other.
Pine cones and a burgundy-gold ribbon were added to finish the design, making a lovely Christmas centerpiece.
Round Design
A second design that was demonstrated used a round container.
Charlotte chose a round pink container for her design. The oasis used in this design rises a little higher than the edges of the container. This allows the inserted evergreens to come out naturally without hitting the rim of the container.
Charlotte started out by inserting pachysandra on the edge of the oasis near the rim of the container. She then added other evergreens with different shapes, colors and textures to fill in the edges.
Charlotte continued adding evergreens until the entire perimeter was filled in.
More evergreens are added to the center of the container. Aside from the evergreens, hydrangeas with a yellowish hue were added for more contrast.
Dried hydrangeas, spray painted orange, were added to complete the design. The colors in this arrangement make it appropriate for a beautiful Thanksgiving centerpiece.
To use this same design for Christmas, the orange flowers can be replaced with different colored flowers or Christmas ribbons.