The holiday season is upon us, giving you and your garden yet another reason to shine and show off. If you love entertaining, check out Life is a Garden’s top 5 DIY décor ideas and let your inspiration and creativity bloom. Showcase your homegrown table treasures and pull out a few fancy tricks up your green sleaves!

Charming flower chandeliers

Elegant, aromatic, and unmissable - a flower chandelier is a total must-have as part of the patio party table. All you need is a hook from which to hang it from and these:

• An embroidery hoop/ring (available from most craft shops and material outlets)
• Twine, ribbon, string or fishing gut
• Bold blooms (visit your GCA Garden Centre for fragrant seasonal gems)

How to: To get that distinctive cascading chandelier look, tie your flowers at different heights onto the embroidery hoop. Begin with a long bottom layer and work your way up. You could even add some fairy lights down the middle for an ambient evening touch.

Try this: Spiral your flowers downwards instead of layering them and experiment with more than one embroidery hoop per chandelier.

The cutest cutlery ties

Wrap your utensils with love and life. Be a little adventurous and pair bright napkins with contrasting flowers, textured twine, or freshly cut vines. You’ll also need:

• Your choice of serviettes or napkins
• Blooms and foliage from the garden
• Twine, ribbon, or string

How to: Once you have wrapped the cutlery inside your serviette or napkin, secure the fold with twine or vines. Insert your flowers or foliage behind the string and voila! Remember to include some water jars on the table where guests can pop in their flowers after opening.

Try this: Use succulent offcuts instead of flowers that you can replant again later. Visit your garden centre for a texture-rich, water-wise succulent variety.