Beautiful & Free 10-Minute DIY Christmas Centerpiece

A beautiful Christmas centerpiece is the shortcuts to make your home feel instantly happy and festive!

Instead of looking for the perfect Christmas table decorations and centerpieces this year, why not make your own DIY Christmas centerpiece for free, with things you can find inside and outside your home?

Today I want to share with you a really fun and easy way to make a Christmas centerpiece that would look gorgeous on a table, mantle, kitchen island or by a door step, and looks fresh for at least a month! You can use this technique to create beautiful Christmas table decorations for your home and as gifts!

Materials needed to make this lovely DIY Christmas centerpiece:

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  • Clippings of evergreen shrubs and berries, such as Cedar, Spruce, Magnolia, Boxwood, Holly, etc, and some pine cones.
  • you don’t need floral foam blocks to make the Christmas table decorations. However, if you plan to give them as a gifts, then it’s a good idea to use floral foam blocks like these  because they are easier to transport. More on that in Step 1.
  • Decorative accents such as pillar candles, glass vase or hurricane , and LED fairy lights like these ones!

You will also need a vessel such as a bucket, basket, or wooden crate to hold everything. Here’s a tutorial on how to make gorgeous wooden crates from pallets!

Make vintage orchard farm inspired pallet wood crate for almost free. Tutorial on transfer images to wood, plus recipe for home made furniture wax. - A Piece Of RainbowHow to make gorgeous wooden crates easily  from pallets!

Here is the video tutorial on making Christmas table decorations, or skip to read the step by step tutorial with photos!

Step 1: Set up the containers for your Christmas table decorations

Arrange glass jars and tin cans in a crate or any type of container you choose.

The big one in the center is facing bottom up, because we will be placing a vase with a candle on it as the center focal point. This is optional. You can get creative with any decorations in the center!

Pour water into each jar till they are filled halfway , this will help keep the garden clippings fresh for much longer.

If you plan to give them as a gifts, then it’s a good idea to use floral foam blocks like these  because they are easier to transport.Put plastic liner inside the crate, then soak the floral foam blocks and place them inside the liner to replace the cans of water.

Step 2: Add a focal point in the table arrangement

I used pillar candles inside a glass vase here.

Step 3: Add botanical clippings to our DIY centerpiece

Of course we need evergreens for our Christmas table decorations! You probably have a lot more choices of gorgeous conifers than what I can find here on the coast in Southern California!

I did manage to find some Italian Cypress!

Evergreens such as Cedar, Spruce, Magnolia, Boxwood, all have unique color foliage and textures. You can create beautiful contrasts and color variations with a nice mix of evergreens!

The silvery Hebe branches look gorgeous against the blue green Cypress and huge deep green Magnolia leaves.

Add more festive style with red berries! I used Toyon berries here, because that’s the alternative Holly for California! 🙂

Tuck some pinecones among the branches. Isn’t this fun and easy??

You may also love: 27 stunning and easy DIY centerpieces for Christmas and beyond!

27 gorgeous & easy DIY Thanksgiving and Christmas table decorations & centerpieces! Most can be made in less than 20 minutes, from things you already have! - A Piece of Rainbow

And 24 DIY colorful planters for winter and Christmas decorations!

How to create colorful winter outdoor planters and beautiful Christmas planters with plant cuttings and decorative elements that last for a long time! - A Piece of Rainbow 

24 DIY colorful planters for winter and Christmas decorations!

Step 4: Add fairy lights to your Christmas table decorations.

The pillar candle is more for decorative purpose. I love battery operated LED fairy lights like these ones!

Don’t you just love the warm glow?

More is more: add some ribbons for an extra holiday vibe!

Update: It’s been 3 weeks since I made this DIY Christmas centerpiece, and everything still look really fresh and happy!

Here are some tips on how to create longer lasting Christmas table decorations:

  1. Cedar and Cypress are generally longer lasting than Pine and Fir. Last year I put some Cedar branches in water and they lasted for over a month!
  2. When choosing leafy plant clippings, usually the thicker and stiffer the leaves, the longer it will last.

More favorite Holiday decorating ideas and DIY projects:

38 inspiring alternative Christmas Tree ideas to DIY this holiday! From candy canes, pine cones, to paper and pallets, these great tutorials are must-sees! - A Piece Of Rainbow Blog

48 Creative alternative Christmas trees that are NOT trees!

100+ Favorite Christmas decorating ideas for every room! Lots of great tips to apply to your own home easily with gorgeous DIY Christmas decorations! A Piece of Rainbow

30+ Favorite Christmas home tours and how to decorate every room in your home!

How to make wreath super fast with this dollar store hack! Turn a laundry basket into a wreath jig, plus tutorials on a flower wreath & a herb wreath!

Super fast way to make a wreath: a Dollar store hack!

Have a merry and bright day! See you next week!

27 Comments

  1. I made this today with magnolia leaves and winter greenery from our woods in South Carolina! Gorgeous and took 15 mins!

  2. This is beautiful and so easy…it’s just what I’ve been looking for. Why buy one when you can make this. Thank you for sharing

  3. I love this! I recently posted a pumpkin pie recipe on my blog and this centerpiece would have looked amazing in the background. I may have to make this centerpiece and then reshoot the post.

  4. Very nice! I loved your variety of greens you used. It is well done but not so sophisticated that it would look out of place in my casual househod. Think they would make lovely gifts!

  5. That does look like such a cool centerpiece. I would never have thought of using a box like that to do it before. But I can see how amazing a job can be done with it. I especially love the fairy lighting touch.

  6. Wow!! You are very creative. I really like your DIY Christmas table centerpiece so stunning and classy look. I will definitely try to make it.

  7. This is so beautiful and I have been wanting to put something live on my kitchen table but didn’t know how to go about it. I never would have thought to use cans and fill them with water to make it work!!

  8. I LOVE this idea! I love DIY decorations for the holidays. I feel like I appreciate and enjoy them a lot more than one that I bought in the store (and can find in a friends house! lol)

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