All trees, shrubs, mosses, and lichens that are evergreen during the winter months, such as holly, ink-berry, laurels, hemlocks, cedars, spruces, arbor vitæ, are used at Christmas-time for in-door ornamentation. Then come the club-mosses (Lycopodiums), particularly the one known as "bouquet-green," and ground-pine, which are useful for the more delicate and smaller designs. Again, we have the wood mosses and wood lichens, pressed native ferns and autumn leaves; and, if the woods are not accessible, from our own gardens many cultivated evergreens can be obtained, such as box, arbor vitæ, rhododendron, ivy, juniper, etc.
Where it is desirable to use bright colors to lighten up the sombreness of some of the greens, our native berries can be used to great advantage. In the woods are to be found the partridge-berries, bitter-sweet, rose-berries, black alder, holly-berries, cedar-berries, cranberries, and sumac. Dried grasses and everlasting-flowers can be pressed into service. For very brilliant effects gold-leaf, gold paper, and frosting (obtainable at paint stores) are used.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 1 represents a simple wreath of holly leaves and berries, sewn on to a circular piece of pasteboard, which was first coated with calcimine of a delicate light blue, on which, before the glue contained in the calcimine dried, a coating of white frosting was dusted. The monogram XMS is drawn on drawing-paper highly illuminated with gold-leaf and brilliant colors, after which it is cut out, and fastened in position.
Fig. 2 consists of a foundation of pasteboard, shaped as shown in the illustration. The four outside curves are perforated with a darning-needle. These perforations are desirable when the bouquet-green is to be fastened on in raised compact masses. The four crescent-shaped pieces of board are colored white, and coated with white frosting. On the crescents are sewn sprays of ivy and bunches of bright red berries. From the outer edge of the crescents radiate branches of hemlock or fronds of dried ferns. For the legend in the centre the monogram I.H.S.,[2] or "A merry Christmas to all," cut out in gold paper, looks well.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3 consists of a combination of branches of apple wood, or other wood of rich colors and texture, neatly joined together so as to form the letters M and X. (In selecting the wood always choose that which has the heaviest growth of lichens and mosses.)
For the ornamentation of the rustic monogram I use wood and rock lichens, fungi, Spanish moss, and pressed climbing fern. Holes are bored into the rustic letters, into which are inserted small branches of holly in full berry. By trimming the monogram on both sides it looks very effective when hung between the folding-doors of a parlor, where the climbing fern may be trained out (on fine wires or green threads) in all directions, so as to form a triumphal archway. By using large fungi for the feet of the letters M and X (as shown in the illustration), the monogram can be used as a mantel-piece ornament, training fern and ivy from it and over picture-frames. The letter S in the monogram is composed of immortelles.