Monday, November 24, 2008

Baby, It's COLD Outside!!

Is that ICE on my River?!!!

Yes it is. It's been below freezing for a little over a week now, but I didn't think a moving river would freeze so quickly! Shows how much I know...

Despite the below-freezing temperatures, Saturday afternoon I evilly forced my husband out on a bittersweet collecting trip. I thought, ,"He's always complaining that we don't spend enough time outside, he loves a little hike, and he skis, so the cold really shouldn't bother him." Boy was I wrong!

Bittersweet is a vine that grows around other plants (and trees and telephone poles) and in the fall grows beautiful reddish-orange berries. The vines make wonderful holiday wreaths and garlands, and though I've never made either before I thought I'd give it a try.

So we took a trip back to the fields we'd taken the dogs running a couple of weeks ago, where I knew there was plenty of foliage to be found. Clippers in hand, we hiked out and partook of the bounty.

For about 20 minutes.

After which my husband was complaining so loudly of the cold that I gave up!

We did manage to come home with two big arm-loads of bittersweet and enough birch branches to fill my two big vases.

These branches in the blue living room I'll spray a silvery white and sprinkle with an opalescent glitter. I'll make a trip back to the Christmas Tree Shop to see if they still have the battery operated mini lights, which I'll weave in the vase and lower parts of the branches.

And these in my orange and red dining room I'll try to give an antique gold coating. I may have to make my first attempt at gold-leafing to get the look I'm thinking of! For the lighting on this bunch I've put a short pillar candle behind it so it up-lights the branches, casting a really cool pattern on the ceiling.

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