Olive Leaf Christmas Garland, 9 ft with Red Berries and 30 Warm LEDs

Description

Olive leaf rather than pine

Almost every Christmas garland is a fir or a pine. This one is built from olive leaves, trailing vines and red berries, which gives it a lighter, looser look closer to a foraged Mediterranean swag than to a traditional evergreen. It suits a room that is not doing red and gold, and it carries on working past the holidays, which a flocked pine garland does not.

Length and lighting

Nine feet, with thirty warm white LEDs threaded through it. Thirty lights over nine feet is a low density by design: the effect is a scatter of warm points among the leaves rather than a lit rope. If you want the garland itself to be the light source, add a second strand. If you want the foliage to be the thing you see and the light to be a suggestion, this is already right.

Power

Three AA batteries, not included. That keeps it cable free, which matters on a garland, because a trailing lead down the side of a mantel or a bannister undoes the look. The trade is the usual one: battery LEDs are softer than mains powered ones, and you will change cells during a long season.

Construction

PE foliage over flexible shaping strips. The internal strips are what let you swag it between fixings and have it hold the curve, and what stop it dropping into a straight line under its own weight. The material is waterproof, fade resistant and corrosion resistant, so a covered porch or a sheltered door frame is within its range.

Where it works

A mantel, a stair rail, a door frame, a shelf, or laid down the centre of a table. Laid flat on a table it works particularly well, because the vines and berries give it something to look at from close range that a pine garland does not have.

Handling

Separate the vines and turn some leaves downward when you unpack it. Store it loosely coiled and take the batteries out before it goes away.