Succulent Christmas Centerpiece

I am a collector of many things. Bottles, craft supplies, fabric, books both old and new, and for the last few years, succulent plants. It all started with the succulents when my sister, Antoinette, gave me one, and my mom gave me another.  Then my mom and I toured the Ruth Bancroft Gardens in Walnut Creek and I was hooked.

Now I have about 20 potted succulents and many more in the ground. I love the different colors and all the flowers. I had no idea they flowered before, and the flowers are stunning. So I was delighted to see a feature in the Contra Costa Times that showed a succulent wreath.

Since I am both a crafter and collector I thought that this would be a fun holiday project. I purchased a twig wreath and some adorable pinecone and Christmas tree candles from JoAnns and invited my sister Antoinette to come early on Christmas Day for our last minute craft project. Since we both have a collection of plants we snipped a bunch of pieces and combined them to make the wreath you see here.

It took us about 30 minutes and we were really happy with the results. In my family the table setting is VERY important. We even took a family vacation once and had to all bring a different table setting, one for each meal. Each table was more extraordinary than the last. So setting the table for Christmas dinner needed to be done just right.

The table cloth was red and we wrapped a ribbon around the table so it looked like a package and the wreath was the bow. Surrounding the wreath were some stars on a string and gold ribbon. We got lots of compliments on the centerpiece and the table. I will leave it out for a week, then take it apart and re-pot the pieces and give them to my good friend Carolyn, who can only have plants that are hard to kill. These babies will be perfect and the memory of my wreath will stay fresh.