TOUCH OF GREEN
[SEASONAL DECOR]
Snip a few sprigs off your Christmas tree
and put them to creative reuse on gifts, tabletops, and more.
Floral designer Alethea Harampolis shows how.
PHOTOS THAYER ALLYSON GOWDY PRODUCED BY ALETHEA HARAMPOLIS
HOME HANDS-ON
56 | December 2019
his time of
year fl oral
designer
Alethea
Harampolis spends
long hours at fl ower
markets buying stems
for holiday orders.
But the co-owner
of Studio Choo also
happily gathers
materials that many
people might overlook:
clippings from her
Christmas tree or
fallen branches in her
Northern California
backyard after a
storm. “I’ve always
loved working with
evergreens,” Alethea
says. “They’re festive,
free, and last for weeks
in whatever project
you use them in.”
T
To give her ties
this mottled eff ect,
Alethea fl oats (not
submerges) loose balls
of cotton rope in fabric
dye for 24 hours.
GIFT
TOPPERS
To make natural
tassels, insert pine
sprigs (with lower
needles removed)
about ¹∕2 inch into
frayed ends of rope;
wrap embroidery
thread tightly around
rope end to secure.
Or decorate wrapped
presents with sprigs
either bent into
mini wreaths or tied
into bunches and
decorated with ribbon. BY MIRANDA CROWELL
