Table Top Pots – Perfect for Holiday Gifts

When our children were small and the budget was tight we made all our Christmas gifts, cards and even tags. I would start many weeks ahead of time, the sewing machine working late into the night as I made matching flannel shirts for my husband and son (then 2 1/2 years old) and a Beatrix Potter duvet cover for our daughter.

 

 

The kitchen would be filled with spicy aromas as I steamed home-made Christmas puddings to be wrapped in red cellophane and cooked up dozens of mince pies. Cards were crafted from folded fabric one year, lino-cut block another.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even the Christmas stockings, nativity scene and large wall hanging-style advent calendar were stitched with love. In hindsight I wonder how I ever did it all!

Twenty or so years have gone past – life got busier, budgets eased and we were able to give 'bigger' gifts. It was so much fun to be able to go to the store and select something special for friends and family. Home-made Christmas decorations mingled with shiny new baubles and trinkets discovered at specialty stores.

The children are now adults, our daughter  married  with a home of her own and we seem to have come full circle. I still enjoy the festive atmosphere at the shopping mall – in small doses! But I much prefer to be at home, carols playing, log fire burning and filling the home once again with the smells of Christmas. A few beautiful, specially chosen gifts share space under the tree with homemade items.

Special ornaments are still purchased and exchanged on Christmas eve but  we also wait to see what beautiful designs my husband has handturned on his woodworking lathe, each piece crafted with  love and sure to be treasured for a lifetime.

Today it's less about budget than about choice. We understand the value of giving the gift of time.

So to help you create a special gift I've got a few design ideas for quick table top containers for inside and outside the home. Once you've assembled the materials they take only minutes to put together.

1. The Miniature Christmas Tree

Materials

Frost resistant container approx 10" x 10" with drainage hole

Potting soil

1 x 4" Alberta spruce or other conifer

1 x 4" berried wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens)

1 x 4" bugleweed (Ajuga repens)

2 x 4" golden creeping Jenny (Lysimachia n. 'Aurea')

 

Putting it together

Add potting soil directly to pot – no crocks at the bottom

Add plants and tuck soil into gaps

Water until it drains through hole at base

Optional – finish with a pretty red bow

Where to keep it

Outdoors in sun or shade for winter, part sun in summer

 

2. The Woodland Pot

Materials

7 or 8" diameter birch bark pot with liner but no drainage hole

Charcoal (buy in small bags from a nursery)

Potting soil

1 x 4" Alberta spruce or other conifer

1 x 4" flowering hellebore e.g. Jacob

1 x 4" berried wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens)

1 x 4" Emerald Gaiety euonymus (Euonymus .f 'Emerald Gaiety')

Moss to finish

Optional; wired bow and glittered stems

 

Putting it all together

Add 1/2" charcoal to base of pot.

Carefully add potting soil

Plant up as shown adding soil into gaps

Add decorative items

Finish by adding moss to hide soil

Water just enough just to moisten the soil. The charcoal will absorb some excess and stop smells. Do not overwater

Where to keep it

Outside on a covered porch where it will not receive direct rain. (Can be brought inside for a few hours)

3. A Fresh Look

Materials

7-8" diameter burgundy metal container with liner and no drainage hole

Charcoal

Potting soil

1 x 4" Normandy pine

1 x 4" Pepperonia plant

1 x 4" button plant

1 x 4" cyclamen

1 x 2" ivy

Moss

Optional; wired bow and berry accents

Putting it all together

Assemble as per woodland container BUT keep cyclamen in plastic pot

Water as for the woodland container but remove the cyclamen and set it on a saucer of water then allow to drain before replacing it in container.

Where to keep it

Indoors in a cool location.

 

An invitation

Join me for one of my Holiday Container Workshops on December 6th  and make memories as well as a unique container. The log fire will be burning, Holiday music playing softly in the background, warm, homemade English mincepies and a glass of bubbly to enjoy and a few hours to step away from the busyness of the season.

There are two workshops to choose from but spaces are filling up quickly. For more details and to register click HERE.

Here are just a few photos from one of the workshops last year.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Enjoy this season of giving by giving a little of yourself.