How to Decorate a Kwanzaa Bush

A Kwanzaa bush is a small equivalent to a Christmas tree. Created with either natural or artificial elements, the bush can be used to express creativity and to bring the green of the coming spring into the home. A Kwanzaa bush can represent many things, such as the richness of nature and the hope for rebirth and regrowth.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Scissors
• String lights in red and green colors
• Small plastic tree or evergreen bush
• Craft paper and other items
• Masks and other small sculptures

Create a Unique Kwanzaa Bush

1. Decide if you want to decorate an indoor bush or an outdoor one. This will impact your choice of decorations and limit the type of materials you can use. If you don't want to buy a Kwanzaa bush to keep inside, make up your own with construction paper, foam and other craft materials.
2. Choose a short table Kwanzaa bush to use indoors. A tall one is more likely to be confused with a Christmas tree. A short one, on the other hand, can represent the Kwanzaa bush more appropriately.
3. Decorate the Kwanzaa bush with small sculptures, masks and other miniature works of art. You can also make your own decorations using terracotta or ceramic materials. This can be a great way to incorporate art into your home and to liven up the rooms in a classy delicate way.
4. Encourage kids to make their own decorations in the Kwanzaa colors (green, red and black). Possible options include cutouts of animals, Marzipan figures and craft paper designs. Provide kids with glitter, feathers and shells to create unique decorations.
5. Use string lights in green and red colors or skip the lights and instead use strings of beads or paper boas in those colors to decorate the bush.
6. Decorate the Kwanzaa bush with objects that are meaningful to you, even if they don't exactly mesh with each other. Remember that expressing your creativity is much more important than creating a picture-perfect decoration.

Tips & Warnings

• For an even more natural look, buy a small evergreen bush in a pot, so you can decorate it for Kwanzaa and then strip it of decorations and keep in the home long after the holidays are over. Evergreen bushes are available at home improvement stores and most flower shops. While they may be relatively expensive compared to plastic trees, they do have a lot of advantages.