Best Christmas Mistletoe 2021 Tips for Using Mistletoe
Mistletoe is such a traditional part of Christmas decorations. It is a romantic and beautiful way to decorate. You will have a purpose to keep your loved one.
Start with the doors. A doorway is a traditional position for holiday mistletoe. Find a few strategic doorways in your home to hang it from. There are several ways to hang it, such as a small finishing nail or a detachable hook that is attached with double-sided tape. 3M makes a range that does not damage the wood. Make sure the mistletoe is hanging at a good height for most people.
Christmas centerpiece. Mistletoe can be hung in other places in addition to doorways. You can place it in the house in other ways. Think about using real or silk mistletoe, put it in a nice bowl in the middle of the dining table. Pair it with some sparkly holiday balls – green balls are ideal.
Put mistletoe in your wreaths. You can make a beautiful door hanger by adding real mistletoe to a wreath made from real spruce branches. Use cotton from a clear fishing line to tie the mistletoe securely to your holiday wreaths. What a welcome your guests will receive when they enter your home.
Mistletoe can also be used in a garland. An additional place to use with mistletoe is in a garland. Garlands look beautiful on pillars, your stair railings and the front of your fire mantle – why not add a few sprigs of mistletoe. Try a hidden way to attach (like a fishing line). Tie it tightly.
Make a holiday bouquet. Make a fresh arrangement of holiday-inspired plants and flowers and place them in a pretty vase and add some mistletoe to the vase. It doesn’t necessarily have to be real to be placed with other real decoration – as long as it overlooks the whole.
It’s easy and fun to add to your Christmas decorations. Don’t miss a kiss under the mistletoe this holiday season!
Everything you need to know about the mistletoe plant
Christmas is just around the corner and you can plant mistletoe in your own yard to decorate your property. Mistletoe cuttings can be used for indoor decoration as they remain vibrant and green for a long time. Hanging the mistletoe cuttings in homes is a popular Christmas tradition that has spread around the world and without Christmas decorations is considered incomplete.
Mistletoe plant is also commonly known as American Mistletoe and its scientific name is Phoradendron flavescens. It is a parasitic plant or shrub that is evergreen in nature. It has a woody stem that is swollen at the nodes. The plant bears beautiful white colored and small decorative berries. Mistletoe can grow on surrounding plants and can even be seen on large trees such as apple, hawthorn, maple, willow and sycamore or oak. The plant has vibrant green colored foliage with a nice texture.
Mistletoe plant can be propagated from seeds by squeezing a handful of berries until the sticky, glue-like substance comes out. This sticky glue helps the seeds stick to the branches or bark of the host tree and acts as a companion in seed germination. It takes about a year to see signs of germination or sprouts appearing on the host’s bark. The plant takes about three to four years to establish and produce decorative berries.
Another way the plant spreads is through birds. The birds usually scatter seeds of the mistletoe plant in the form of droppings on the branches or leaves of a tree. These seeds tend to germinate and produce roots in the bark or branches of the host tree. It is advisable not to grow mistletoe near fruit trees such as plums and apples as the plant can spread vigorously and pose a threat to your fruit trees. Overgrowth of mistletoe can also lead to reduced fruit production by the host tree.
Mistletoe happens to have a slow growth rate, so it is advisable to purchase plants from a reputable nursery rather than propagating them from seeds. Seed germination can take a very long time and it can take several years for the plant to start producing berries. You can buy plants available in most nurseries and replant them in your garden to avoid hassle. Mistletoe can be grown near huge and healthy trees that can host the plant.
Buy mistletoe and brighten up your home
Christmas just wouldn’t be the same without mistletoe. It is one of the most recognized symbols of the holiday season and has been a tradition for generations. In many European cultures, the plant also features prominently in local mythologies.
Most people buy mistletoe as a decoration for winter holidays. It is commonly made into wreaths or hung over doorways and can be seen in millions of homes each year during the Christmas season. The tradition of hanging mistletoe can be traced back to Europe, and more specifically England. And while it is a prominent part of Christmas for many, the tradition itself is relatively new, with few mentions of it before the 18th century.
Mistletoe is naturally a parasitic plant that grows by sapping the resources of an existing tree. In general, these plants can slow the growth of any tree they attach to, but have been known to kill a tree completely if there is a heavy infestation. Their seeds are dispersed through the waste of birds that move from tree to tree, quickly forming new trees on which to grow.
Despite its long history of being a nuisance plant, millions of people buy mistletoe every year for their holiday celebrations. Tradition holds that a sprig of mistletoe should not touch the ground from the time it is cut to the time it is thrown away. Many people leave it hanging all year round, until it is replaced with a fresh sprig the following Christmas. This is said to prevent house fires and lightning strikes, although there is very little evidence to support this.
One of the most popular reasons for people to buy mistletoe is to kiss. Assuming they are of Scandinavian origin, the custom is that two people who meet under a hanging sprig of mistletoe are obliged to kiss. The tradition comes from Scandinavian mythology and has been passed down from generation to generation. For most people in the western world, this is the most widely recognized reason to use the plant as a decoration during the holiday season.
Choosing the perfect Christmas table decorations
Christmas is the only time of year when the whole family gathers and sits around the dining table to enjoy a festive meal. The festive spirit is everywhere and choosing eye-catching Christmas table decorations is a great way to bring all this seasonal cheer into your home. Below is a selection of tips to make your Christmas table look absolutely fabulous this year.
- A great centerpiece will always beautify your Christmas table. It will become the centerpiece of any Christmas dinner and can be a lot of fun to make! Everyone will have their own ideas of what the perfect Christmas centerpiece is, but you may want to consider pine cones, holly and mistletoe as these are all very reminiscent of Christmas and the winter season. You could even dust off your centerpiece with some spray-on artificial snow for an original and creative way to create that perfect Christmas atmosphere!
- When planning your Christmas table, you may want to take a moment to think about what kind of napkins would best suit the table aesthetic you’re going for. Colors like white, pastel blue, and purple are perfect for evoking a snowy, wintery feel. If you prefer a more traditional Christmas table look, then green, red and gold will give you the classic festive vibe you’re aiming for. Once you’ve chosen your napkins, instead of just laying them flat on the table, fold them into a silver napkin ring to give your table a little extra sparkle.
- What better way to bring your Christmas table to life than with a few stylish and attractive candles? A set of well-placed candles reflects the warmth of the Christmas spirit and creates a perfect, magical atmosphere for a beautiful Christmas dinner. Candles come in a wide variety of styles and colors so you can make sure they match your chosen layout and color scheme.
- For that extra personal touch, you can make your guests feel truly special by providing a place card for each person. You can make this one as simple or creative as you like, and it will serve as the finishing touch to your perfect Christmas table display. Place cards also give you the added bonus of being able to decide where to seat everyone, allowing you to arrange seating to ensure the most lively and fun dinner conversation possible.
So in the run up to Christmas, when you have a million things on your mind and you’re busy wrapping presents and planning the Christmas Day meal, don’t forget your Christmas table decorations!
Do you know the origin of Christmas traditions?
There are many traditions and symbols that we associate with Christmas, including the Christmas tree, leaving cookies for Santa and sending Christmas cards and presents. If you are like most, you observe all the traditions that are sacred to your family without thinking about where they came from or why they became so popular in the first place.
While you don’t need to know why you’re celebrating the Christmas holidays the way you do, drinking an egg cookie in front of the fireplace makes for an interesting conversation. So, if you are ready to amaze your family and friends with your knowledge of the Christmas holidays, bring out these interesting facts about the most celebrated holiday.
The modern term Christmas has its origins in the Old English “cristes masse”, meaning “Christmas”. The name Christ has its origin in the Greek language, the language spoken by Christ himself. The Greek form of the work was Khristos, meaning “anointed one.”
The origin of the Christmas tree actually dates back thousands of years before Christ and the history of Christianity. The tree has its origins in the time of the Druids, a society made up of sorcerers, prophets and priests. During the Druid winter solstice, which fell on December 21, the Druid priests decorated outdoor trees with apples and lit candles to show their appreciation for their god Odin. The candles represented the eternal light of their sun god Balter. Christians later widely adopted the practice, decorating their fir trees with apples to represent Adam and Eve’s gall of grace.
The first Christmas tree has been attributed to a warrior of the Crusades, Winfried of England, who, according to legend, had traveled to the northern woods to hide from the pagans. When Winfried encountered an unruly mob preparing to make a human sacrifice in front of the sacred oak of Geismar, he cut down the odious tree and a pine tree immediately sprang up from where the oak used to stand. Winfried claimed that the tree was the three of Christ, representing the love and kindness that should be in everyone’s home.
Santa Claus is a lively, cheerful and fat old fellow who travels around the world on Christmas Eve delivering presents to deserving children. Today’s Santa Claus has its origins in Sinterklaas. This patron saint was depicted in paintings as the ordinary person he was, but was given a makeover by the Coca-Cola Company in the 1930s. Correct; our beloved Santa Claus is nothing more than a clever marketing ploy. And you thought it was hard when the kids in the playground told you Santa Claus didn’t exist.
Christmas cards were introduced in Britain in the 1840s with the introduction of the postal service and the penny stamp. While a penny was a lot of money back then, sending Christmas cards was still very common in the 1860s.
Holly and mistletoe are also attributed to the Druids. The ancient Druids were the first society known to carry sprigs of holly and mistletoe. The Druid priests believed that holly could remain green and vibrant all year round because it possessed magical properties. We may also have picked up some other important traditions of the Druids. Do you think it’s a coincidence that the colors of holly, green and red are the colors associated with Christmas today? Mistletoe, on the other hand, represented fertility and was looked down upon by the Christian church for its association with non-virginity.
Gift giving came to us from the Romans. The Romans exchanged holly wreaths as gifts during their Saturnalia festival, which coincided with the Druid’s winter solstice. The wreaths were a symbol of eternal life. Later, many Christians would decorate their homes with holly during the Saturnalia festival to avoid persecution from the Romans. Eventually, holly decoration was also incorporated into Christian practices.
So, now that you know a little more about why you do the things you do during the Christmas season, why not check out some other tidbits of historical knowledge you can discover to share at your next holiday gathering.
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