Novice Gardener: Holiday Garden Centerpiece

Updated post: After a recent wind storm the centerpiece took a tumble so had to be rearranged. I also added the red glitter eucalyptus stalks.

Holiday Garden Centerpiece
It's not perfect but it was basically free.

It is always a little sad for me when my garden goes to sleep for winter. Looking at black mulch where my lovely yellow flowers once were can be a bit of a downer.  This year I decided to try my hand at creating a bold garden focal point. I took a tired looking bench that was sitting in storage and spray painted it candy apple red. Once dry the next day, I plopped it in my empty garden. My husband thought I was crazy until I completed the next phase of the project. Why is there a bright red bench in our front yard?

This old bench was too worn to be used for seating,
but got a new purpose in becoming a plant stand.

We have access to a few types of trees and greenery on our property(cedars and pines), so I decided to make my own Holiday planter. With help from my six year old, we put on garden gloves and started pruning trees to gather materials. To start the construction, a plastic window box planter was filled with soil and became the base for our project. I also found a ream of plastic mesh bought on $2 discount after Christmas last year. I like the kind infused with wire because it holds it's shape a bit better.

The project was nearly done.
It just needed something shiny.

I put the two largest branches in the back row in a fan shape (higher in back). We took turns inserting branches and were somewhat pleased with our creation. My junior designer said it was missing something "shiny". So I went to the dollar store and bought two large silver ball ornaments and a jumbo silver pine cone to finish. I total I spent less than $5 making the planter and the spray paint for the bench was $6. 

It makes me happy to take something worn out and make it new, or useful in a new way. I may repaint the bench a new colour in the Spring, but for now, my candy apple red bench is adding some holiday cheer to our empty garden.

Have fun and play nice!