Quick Tips — Centerpieces

The following three “Quick Tips” will help anyone who is making their own festive centerpiece.

1. When working with fresh greens, tree sap from the fresh greens can make your hands “sticky” which is just plain annoying. To easily remove sap, apply some Crisco to your hands. The fat from the Crisco will easily dissolve the sap, then simply wipe your hands with a paper towel and wash with soap and water. You can also help keep your hands “sap free” by applying your favorite hand lotion prior to working with the greens. Once done, simply wash with soap and water.
2. Centerpieces with natural floral features can be enhanced with pine cones. However, finding fully opened pine cones in the woods can prove to be a frustrating task. First, pine cones that are ready for harvesting will be brown and relatively dry. They may be picked straight from the tree but should not have any green coloration. For any partially opened pine cones, simply place pine cones on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 300° F for 15 minutes. Leave any that aren’t completely opened in for an additional 5 minutes at a time until they open. An additional benefit to this technique is that any bugs that may be living in the partially opened pine cone will not be part of your beautiful centerpiece!
3. The height of centerpiece arrangements should be 12″ or shorter for dinner tables. This allows guests to easily see each other and converse while still enjoying your beautiful display. In addition, the length of your centerpiece should be no longer than 25 percent of your overall table length to remain in proportion and allow room for placement of serving trays / bowls.