Yes, Christmas greens smell amazing. And Yes, they look beautiful too. But what a mess! I’ve been working with faux greens for years so Yes, you can use faux Christmas greens and they can look just as wonderful as the real deal. No needle dropping and changing nasty water! And you can use faux greens year after year. I’ll show you some designer tricks of the trade when it comes to using faux greens this Christmas!
I used to use live Christmas greens for decades! Then one day, I just got tired of all the work.
There had to be a better way! So I went on a quest to find great faux greens that looked like the real deal! And my search paid off! It was like a Christmas miracle! I had no idea such beautiful faux evergreens really existed! But they do and have been around for years and years. I just did not know how fabulous they were because I was a real Christmas greens snob!
I’ve collected boxes and boxes of beautiful faux greens over the years. And now I think of myself as a faux greenery aficionado of sorts. So today we are talking about choosing and decorating with faux Christmas greenery!
When I decorate with faux Christmas greens I like to keep it simple and let the greens show off their beauty! Here are a few tips for choosing and decorating with faux Christmas greens.
Real or faux? Hard to tell! These are my go-to faux Christmas greens!
- Buy the best fakes you can. I know I might get some blow-back when I say this but when you want artificial greens that look as close to the real thing as possible skip the large craft stores. They do have greens but they are usually not the best quality.
- Shop local decor shop or big flower outlets for the most realistic greens. Or shop reputable sources online.
- Shop sales! You will be amazed at all the Christmas decor already on sale now. The faux evergreen branch above was $4.90 and I got it on sale for 25% off!
- Choose sprays of greens that are real-life size. If you want your faux greens to look real, they have to be the right size.
- Think about buying a realistic garland (on sale, of course) to cut apart. You get lots of greenery for the money! This is my favorite tip! You can get tons of pretty greens for a great price.
- Mix different types of greens. When arranging greens make sure to mix a variety of different evergreens and other greenery together. You will be rewarded with a much more interesting and realistic arrangement. I filled the pottery lanterns with a short needle evergreen and a long needled pine.
- Add the correct pinecone for the type of evergreen sprays. It will make your arrangments look so much more authentic.
- Fluff, bend and arrange each evergreen branch individually. Don’t just plunk faux greens in an arrangement without “arranging” them.
- The most popular types of faux greenery are… short needle evergreen, pine evergreen, cypress, boxwood, and juniper.
- Collect faux greenery little by little. I’ve been collecting high quality (all on sale) fakes for years now and I have accumulated quite a stash. I can now decorate my home with all the faux greenery I have collected. It takes time to build up a great collection. Add to your collection every year!
- Choose 3 or 4 different types of greenery to collect and keep collecting just that. I chose a short needle evergreen, pine, and boxwood. It’s so easy to mix and match them!
- Collect other “add-ins”. I also collect red berries, white berries, tiny stars, pinecones (you know my obsession with pinecones), antique ornaments and more! I accent my arrangments with these items but most often I let the greens be the star!
- Don’t be afraid to cut your faux branches and garland apart. I do this all the time! I save every little piece of green. Sometimes all you need are a couple sprigs of some pretty greens to make something look festive!
- Take care of your great faux greens. When the season is over swish them in warm sudsy water, rinse them and let them air dry. They collect dust and grime and need to be cleaned. Just make sure they are totally dry before putting them away.
- Keep faux greens out of direct sunlight. Some of them will fade.
- Straighten out the stems and branches before storing them away until next Christmas.
- Store like faux’s together in clear plastic boxes with tight fitting lids. Store them in a cool, dry place.
- It’s a good idea to wear a light pair of garden gloves when working with faux greens. Like their real counterparts, they can scratch!
Decorating with real greenery is quintessential Christmas! But if you are like me, and tired of the mess they cause then you might want to think about switching to fabulous faux! If you do… you won’t go back!
Hey, friends! I’ve gotten several comments and lots of emails asking me to recommend faux greens. As I said in the post above I buy them from local decorating shops. They are reliably good! I usually don’t get greens online so it is hard for me to recommend a source without actually seeing the faux. Saying that, I have gotten many faux florals and greens from The Pottery Barn and they are always great. But I have not gotten evergreens from them. Hope you understand! Thanks!
Hi Yvonne.
Great post! I agree faux greenery is the way to go indoors. Thanks for the tip on cleaning it!! i love your decorating style! I really like the lamp with black wire mesh. Can you tell me where you purchased it? Thank you for sharing all your great decorating ideas!
Hi Kim, I found that at our local Pottery Barn outlet years ago.
Yvonne, do you remember where you found the whitewashed tray/crate that you feature in this post? I have been looking all over for one like this and haven’t been able to find anything so far. Thank you.
Lovely! Upon reading this, I went to Balsam Hill and ordered their sample pack of 25 branches for $19! I should think that will be a good addition to some that I purchased years ago from our local go-to shop that is now gone, sadly.
What an ingenious idea Paula! I just did that too!
I like to mix some fresh greenery in with the faux. Holly lasts the longest. Soaking greenery in water immediately after clipping, for an hour, helps prevent wilting. We use a lot of Cunninghamia in the south and it is beautiful, but it tears my hands up. I would love to find a nice faux In that. Thanks for sharing your wonderful ideas.
I’m convinced. Faux it is this year.
Faux greens are awesome! But, you get what you pay for, so invest in good quality pieces that appear life-like. Quality pieces will last for years. Missing the aroma of cut pine due to faux? A few drops of pine essential oil, will waft through rooms making everyone think your free nerdy is fresh! Even use a few drops on filters for your heating/cooling system for the scent to circulate throughout your home.
Does anyone know how to create pine cone garland? I’m looking to make the kind that creates bunches of pine cones clustered together. A search of YouTube has failed to yield any results for what I’m wanting.
Great tips!
As usual, your blog is great. So much good information. I plan on implementing many of your ideas in todayās blog. Thank YOU!
You are so right. 15 years ago I shopped a decorator store at the after Christmas sale. Like get in line Dec 25 at midnight . My goal was to get ribbon for our upcoming wedding at a huge discount. Well I did, and lots of huge garlands, trees and wreaths. Last year I finally had to let some go. But consider the prices 15 years ago, not 75% off of that! I got my money’s worth. I cut some up and used outside till they were just gone.
But I do get real wreaths and Garland for the stairs!
Wow! You are a bargain hunter. A gal after my own heart!
Instead of adding faux greenery, I add real greenery to my faux.
Great idea!
So beautiful ….
Today faux greens, foliage and some flowers look so real you have to actually touch
to know. I do miss the wonderful smell of fresh greens but not the clean up!
Christmas has its own lovely aromaās… a sprig or two of pines makes it perfect.
Great post.
Great tip, Darlene!
Hi Darlene, If you miss the smell of Christmas you need to diffuse beautiful essential oils. YOu can see a post about them HERE.
Fun to read your article on faux greens! I totally agree and continue to collect faux greens and berries as I find realistic ones.
Another tip I wanted to share was that I sometimes add some real sprigs of greenery with the fake and it makes it all look real! This works in arrangements and garlands!
GREAT TIP, Lisa! I add real holly to faux greens but that’s about it. They drop!
I started collecting faux greens 2 years ago, after reading a post you did. š Love fauxs, and they are so easy to store!
Like Constance, Caroline, Nancy and Connie I would be so grateful if you could advise where to look online for high quality faux greenery!
See the note I put in at the bottom of the page.
Hi Donna, I’ll add this to the end of this post… I do have sources but they are all local shops. I’m sure they have beautiful faux greens online but I’ve not used them. And I would be remiss to recommend faux florals I’m not sure about. Saying that I think Pottery Barn faux florals are pretty nice and have used them before, just not the evergreens. I hope you understand!
Hi Yvonne……do you have any on-line source for faux greens that you feel you can recommend? Thanks! š
Great information, Yvonne. But WHERE do you buy them online? I’m in a small town and need the good online sources, please.
I’m so glad, you mentioned cleaning your faux greens. I have been a florist for more years than I hate to admit, and we decorate so many homes during the season. I even hose off artificial trees, lights and all, they just need to dry completely before lighting them up and decorating. I’m a lover of faux as well, but it makes me crazy when someone doesn’t completely fluff out their branches, swags, but especially trees, before drcorating, that’s the most important part with using faux.
So pretty! These look so realistic! I may have missed it, but didnt see your source for that green branch at a great price!
I LOVE quality faux greens! I ruined a vacuum cleaner years ago sweeping up dried needles from real greens. Luckily I have access to a floral supply house, so I do buy the best at a reasonable price. I tuck greens in bookcase displays, kitchen displays, bathrooms, bedrooms…just about everywhere. I love the look of the holidays and I love to decorate early, so real greens are out of the question. I do sometimes cut a few sprigs of cedar with the cute blue berries and tuck it here and there along with the faux greens. The fragrance it adds is wonderful.
I just have to tell you about a trick that I came up with a couple years ago. It’s one of those…”why didn’t I think of this before” things. I would lug boxes of faux greens up from the basement every November then back to the basement in January. One year when getting ready to dismantle everything I looked over and there was my HUGE trunk that I use as a coffee table…It’s big enough for a body…but I won’t go there…haha. It was empty. It dawned on me that I could store all of my faux greens in it and save all that time hauling them up and down the stairs!!
I donāt disagree with the mess of real greenery but I prefer it for the smell and I can compost it afterwards, so no more totes. I just donāt have the storage capacity. Our garage is off limits for storage, as we park both vehicles in there. Plus, I love to walk the woods filling a garbage bag with fallen branches and a few I snip. Itās a Christmas tradition and one Iām not ready to give up. Lots of great hints in this post though.
Great post! I just bought a bunch of faux greens for around my new home yesterday (I don’t want to wait until the last minute). The last thing I need to do, very soon, is pick out a faux Christmas tree. I want to buy a flocked on this year, but most of the sources are online so I’m afraid the real thing might not be as spectacular as the picture. I must say, your flocked tree in the dining room post looks beautiful and I trust it’s just as lovely in person. Do you mind sharing where you got it and the name? Do you have other flocked trees for Christmas…if so, where are they from? Thanks!
Sure, Lisa. I found it at Wayfair.I added faux flocked branches to make this tree in my dining room look full. Here is the link.https://amzn.to/2RNwtZx
It’s quite nice for the money. However, there is NOTHING I like better than a Balsam Hill tree. You pay more but the quality is beyond superb!!!!! And they look totally real! I would recommend Balsam Hill for a “primary” tree!
Thank you so much Yvonne for the great tips and info!!! Do you recommend any online sites for this?
Again, look at the added note. I am researching the greens now and will get back to everyone soon
Yes! Please recommend some online sites. I am desperate! LOL. Tired of the mess.
See added note to the post. Let me do a little research and get back to everyone concerning faux evergreen.
Did I miss it? Any tips WHERE to purchase the best Faux greenery?
I absolutely love your decorating ideas for every season! Thank you!!! I also use faux greens.
I took apart an old faux Christmas tree and used the branches to decorate the areas above my kitchen cabinets! I add some berries and it always looks magical!! Merry Christmas Blessings!
I agree about everything in this post… but I’m craving some info on SOURCES! I live in Baltimore… I’ve searched but haven’t found any retail sources nearby… can you share info on online sources please?
If you live nearby and can get to Lancaster I would say try THE OLD MILLHOUSE SHOPPES on Strasburg Pike. They carry beautiful faux greens. Also, COCALICO DESIGNS on rt 30. And THE TREASURE PLACE in Intercourse ( yes, that’s right).
Yvonne this is a revelation!! I was a florist for 25 years and have not been able to bring myself to use much fake greenery. However, I am getting too old to traipse through the woods and cut trees down. Since you are ok with the artificial…then I am going to try using more this year (WWYD)!! It will be nice to decorate without having to worry about cleaning up the mess that fresh greenery makes! I would love to find a good looking artificial Monkey tree branch that doesn’t bite. I just listened to The Scoop #276 while in my car and enjoyed listening to you gals chat. XOXO
I agree with using good quality faux greens inside and mixing in lots of real pine cones and then having real greens outside on the front porch,window boxes and around our lamp post. I like to use seasonal house plants and some sturdy berries inside for color but my days of sweeping up pine needles are over.
I agree with you, Kathy!
I am decorating this year with neutrals and adding more faux greens which will compliment the neutral theme.Going out today in search of some long needle pines to add to the collection.I also use a lot of ribbon scattered about especially on the tree.Have fun decorating Yvonne !!
Love your ideas. Can’t wait to try some of them