How to Decorate With Garland

Garland instantly adds pops of color and rich texture to trees, banisters, even mantels. These festive strands can also act as miracle workers concealing those inevitable bare spots that you swore weren't there when you picked out the tree. Start by committing to one color palette. Choose something with depth, like a deep crimson, and then soften it up with complementary tones in pale pink, charcoal grey, and creamy ivory. As long as you stick within the same color family, you can play up the fun, unexpected factor like wrapping branches with pom poms, mittens, and mini ornaments. When it comes to the technique, it's all in the wrist: softly drape (note: avoid firmly stuffing) the strands along the branches.

Tree, balsamhill.com.