How to Make a Canadian Christmas Centerpiece

Pine cones invoke the Christmas feeling.

You can create the perfect Canadian Christmas centerpiece with just a few inexpensive materials. The key to turning your centerpiece into a Canadian and Christmas theme, is to play on the visual elements and scents associated with both. By combining the colors red and white, as well as Christmas and Canadian items, such as maple leaves and pine cones, you can easily put together a beautiful centerpiece that celebrates both nationality and holiday.

Things You'll Need

• Evergreen twigs and branches
• Pine cones
• Red and white acrylic paints
• Paint brushes
• Glass candle holder
• Maple-scented candle
• Hot glue gun with glue sticks
• Paper plate
• Red and white ribbon (optional)
• Spray-on fake snow (optional)
• Small Canadian flag (optional)

Instructions

1. Collect some pine cones and evergreen branches or twigs. You can pick up fake ones from your local craft store or go out to your backyard and find some.

2. Paint over the branches with red and white acrylic paint. The red and white colors will tie into the Christmas theme. In addition, they are the colors of the Canadian flag. How you paint them is up to you, but the key is to get a nice mixture of red and white. When you're finished painting, leave the pine cones and twigs aside for an hour to dry.

3. Turn over a cardboard plate and glue the pine cones to the border of the plate with hot glue. You can arrange the pine cones and branches any way you prefer. Wait for about twenty minutes for the glue to set.

4. Glue pine needles and pine twigs to the plate. You can also "Canadianize" your centerpiece by gluing on some maple leaves. Buy fake maple leaves from your local craft store, or find some real ones from outdoors.

5. Place a glass candleholder in the center of the plate and put a maple-scented candle in the candleholder. The maple scent of the candle will invoke the smell of maple syrup, which is associated with Canada.

Tips & Warnings

• If you prefer not to paint the pine cones and branches, leave them natural and use red and white ribbon to decorate the centerpiece instead.

• If you want a "wintery" feel, use some spray-on fake snow to dust your centerpiece before you add the candle.

• You may wish to incorporate a small Canadian flag as part of your centerpiece. Search online, a local flag shop or souvenir shop to find miniature stick flags that can be used in table arrangements or bouquets. Place the flag(s) last, after you assemble the arrangement and add any fake spray-on snow.

References

• World of Christmas: Inexpensive Christmas Centerpiece