simply festive! Sparkling Ideas to Celebrate the Season Sweet! Easy Homemade Candy Merry! Fuss-Free Holiday Decorating

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1 23 Thoughtful Gifts p.154 DECember 2010 BHG.com simply festive! Sparkling Ideas to Celebrate the Season Sweet! Easy Homemade Candy Merry! Fuss-Free Holiday Decorating Delicious! Christmas Brunch & Quick Suppers $3.49

2 23 Thoughtful Gifts p.154 DECember 2010 BHG.com $3.99 simply festive! Sparkling Ideas to Celebrate the Season Sweet! Easy Homemade Candy Merry! Holiday Decorating Delicious! Christmas Brunch

3 DECember 2010 BHG.com simply festive! Sparkling Ideas to Celebrate the Season Sweet! Easy Homemade Candy Merry! Fuss-Free Holiday Decorating Delicious! Christmas Brunch & Quick Suppers

4 Homegrown Holiday Garden designer Jon Carloftis finds his favorite materials for decking the halls right in his own backyard. by kathy barnes photos king au 108 better homes and gardens december 2010 bhg.com

5 Rather than cut down a tree to decorate, garden designer Jon Carloftis uses small trees with intact root balls, which he plants outdoors in spring. He also fills cloches with red ornaments, opposite. When the garden is quiet, my tools, pots, and bell jars become a decorative still life, he says. FLORAL STYLING: JON CARLOFTIS better homes and gardens december 2010 bhg.com 109

6 Tucked into the living room built-ins, wreath forms studded with cinnamon sticks and star anise scent the air of Jon s Pennsylvania farmhouse. He fills his collection of white McCoy pottery with grape hyacinth and boxwood cuttings from his yard. Clusters of miniature red ornaments bring color to the whiteand-green scene. 110 better homes and gardens december 2010 bhg.com

7 With his best pals at his side, Jon Carloftis slips on his boots and gets ready for an afternoon of holiday shopping. But for this garden designer, shopping means a quiet walk through his snow-covered backyard for branches, pinecones, and sprigs of boxwood. His two yellow Labs, Cate and Lily, tussle and chase sticks. Jon s 1-acre lot provides almost everything he needs to create a naturally festive look inside his Bucks County, Pennsylvania, farmhouse. Using naturals is a reflection of who I am in every way, he says. I decorate with fresh materials, especially those from the garden. I love to recycle and repurpose items so I m not buying a lot of new things that will end up as garbage. Laying out his haul, Jon evaluates this year s bounty. Fallen branches covered with green and gray lichen bend and twist in interesting ways, so they earn a place on the mantel. In a wooden bowl, giant pinecones surround forced white hyacinths. Snowdrops, normally spring-blooming bulbs, are emerging in a premature show, so Jon digs them up

8 holiday at home White hyacinth, boxwood, and pinecones in a low bowl make a centerpiece, left, that s versatile enough for any winter occasion. Jon s greatgreat-grandmother made the colorful pincushions, below. Sprigs of greenery and twine bows embellish wrapped gifts, bottom. and replants them in tiny clay pots. Bright green boxwood clippings fill wreath forms, create garlands, and are tucked into vessels throughout the house. Then, it s just a trip to the grocery store for colorful produce such as artichokes, apples, or oranges. It takes a little bit of effort to get the look right, Jon says. After all, branches and boughs aren t perfectly machined in a factory. You have to adjust, lift, rotate, and keep experimenting until what you ve gathered looks good to your eye. To me, it s the antidote to a season that s usually overwrought with too much glitter and gold and fake things, Jon says. Taking a natural approach is all about slowing down, simplifying, and getting back to what matters most. 112 better homes and gardens december 2010 bhg.com

9 holiday at home Think beyond the usual holiday flowers. Plants like orchids, bird s-nest ferns, coleus, and cyclamen look great at Christmas and all winter long. Jon Carloftis Branches of blue atlas cedar tucked into a vase and a grocery store kalanchoe in a clay pot dress the buffet. Jon makes his own boxwood roping using clippings from his yard and florist wire. 114 better homes and gardens december 2010 bhg.com

10 holiday at home Jon and his partner, Dale Fisher, use their 1954 Cadillac, right, to deliver gifts. It s like our sleigh, Jon says. At winter s end, they compost the branches of the garage s supersize wreath and store the form for next year. n 116 better homes and gardens december 2010 bhg.com For buying information see page 270.