It is really hard to overdo holiday decorations when you’re using natural materials. Many kinds of fresh and dried flowers, greens, and other items are suitable for holiday decorating.

Hang garlands and roping over doors and windows and along stair banisters. They’re also nice for draping around mirrors and bedposts. These can be made from holiday greens as well as dried fruits, fresh fruits, and dried chiles. For dried fruit garlands, string the slices together on colorful twine.

Tabletop topiary trees are just ideal for the holidays. Both fresh and dried materials are suitable for this project. Typically, moss or greens are used to cover the Styrofoam topiary form. Then, flowers—either fresh or dried—along with fruits, berries, and other items can be added.

Create a kissing ball using boxwood or dried flowers.

Painted and decorated gourds are just ideal for holiday decorations. Smaller ones are often hung on Christmas trees.

Fill clear plastic Christmas tree ornaments with dried flower petals. Rose petals work very well. Coordinate the petal color with that of your holiday decorating scheme. Small whole spices can also be used in the ornaments. Examples include mixed peppercorns, whole clovers, and allspice. Tie ribbons on the ornaments, and hang them from the tree.

Dried flower bouquets make great holiday decorations. Combine dried boxwood stems with lavender, red globe amaranth, and baby’s breath. Red roses could also be used as well.

Highlight the mantle with carefully arranged decorations. Combine candles with fruits, pine cones, and seed pods. Some green boughs and other holiday greens can also be worked into this display.

Make full use of dried chiles to add holiday color. These are wonderful for all sorts of holiday arrangements from wreaths to garlands.

Poinsettias are a great flower for Christmas displays. These can be used both fresh and dried. The flowers can be dried in a microwave. Use poinsettia stems for centerpieces and Christmas tree decorations as well as wreaths.

Many kinds of fresh and dried flowers can be used in holiday wreaths. Purchase fresh green wreaths and add the flowers of your choice.

You can also create entire wreaths using everlastings. These can be displayed not only at Christmas but throughout the year. Various kinds of wreath forms can be used. These include straw, Styrofoam, and grape vine wreaths. Arrange the flowers by color as you would on a color wheel. For this project, I recommend chiles, globe amaranth, ornamental grasses, yarrow, larkspur, and artemisias.