Christmas Bulbs
The photographs on this page of Christmas bulbs do not belong to the plantation. They are part of Farmhouse Magic Blog’s not for sale holiday collection.
Christmas Decorating at the Plantation
Yesterday I was invited to help decorate the plantation home for the Christmas season. I was surprised at how many volunteers showed up. I guess many of them also give the tours during the year. It was interesting to do and a rare glimpse as to what goes on behind the scenes.
The first thing I noticed was a bunch of fresh pine and holly boughs on the front porch. When I donate items, I never use the front door but come in via the volunteer door in the basement. Then I noticed the floor in the main foyer had been taped off with large sheets of protective plastic. Two folding tables were placed on the plastic sheeting for the volunteers to work on.
I met a lady who volunteered at the plantation for 20 years. She walked me upstairs so I could get a feel of what type of arrangements were needed. Our task was to decorate the main home with fresh pine and holly arrangements. We were given a variety of vases to use from large to very small. There was no particular set place to put the arrangements but we were told to take them upstairs to decorate the bedrooms. There were two boxes of silk flowers to select from if your arrangement needed a little something “extra” to complete it. I used a few small white flowers from the bins thinking there would not be that many flowers available this time of year. I wired and floral taped two pine cones to wooden stems to use as flower picks. I went through the two large bins and, also, found enough artificial ivy to make two smaller wreaths which I wired and floral taped together.
I ended up making two floral arrangements which I placed in the smaller side bedroom and the bedroom with the fireplace
Christmas Bulbs
Downstairs the other group was busy setting up the dining room and sitting parlor with faux food fitting for a magnificent feast. The sitting parlor had a tea set and plated faux cookies adorning a vintage table set. The other downstairs room had the Christmas tree set up with old fashioned paper cutting decorations. Interestingly enough, old letters reported the children of the plantation making potato horses. This year there were also volunteers making potato horses using chop sticks and toothpicks as legs. They turned out cute and very unusual.
Ending thoughts, I should have cut my floral stems longer so they could reach the water. I also noticed a box of floral clippers after I was done with the arrangements. I wish I would have noticed this earlier since I was just breaking off the stems.
We all had pizza and a pot luck lunch at the end of the shift. I learned a lot about the plantation and would love to do this again next year. The plantation is offering candle lite tours this year. I think I am going to get some tickets.