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 DIY
Place Markers for Holiday Gatherings
By Melinda Myers
[December 06, 2025]
Make each guest and family member feel special when
serving up a holiday meal. Mark their place at the table with
something special they can take home and enjoy for the following
days or weeks.
Dress up each place setting with a small plant, fragrant herb or
flower. Purchase one of the many miniature holiday plants available
from your favorite florist or garden center. You can find miniature
specimens of orchids, cyclamen, kalanchoes, poinsettias, azaleas and
others. Just set each plant in its own terra cotta pot or decorative
foil if you need to dress it up a bit. Add a tag with the guest’s
name and send them home with plant care instructions. It will remind
them of your gathering and provide weeks of added enjoyment.
Make it easy for you and each guest with low-maintenance Tillandsia
air plants. These popular plants need indirect sunlight and a half
hour weekly soak in tepid water to thrive. Set a plant on each plate
or in a decorative glass, vase or container. Add a bit of holiday
flair by placing each one in an open orb ornament or miniature
terrarium. Include other small holiday items and top it with a
ribbon. |
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Give each guest their own cut flower to enjoy and
take home. All you need is a bouquet of flowers, a few floral water
picks (water-filled tubes used by florists), greens and ribbon. Cut
the flowers to the desired length and place them in a floral water
pick. Tuck the bloom into a napkin set on each plate and add ribbon
and perhaps a bit of greens. Use any remaining blooms to fill
containers in rooms and on tables throughout your home.
Include a holiday favorite, the poinsettia, at each guest’s place
setting. Simply cut the flowers off a potted poinsettia plant to the
desired length. Place it in a floral water pick tucked into their
napkin or set it in a small bud vase with some greens. Try searing
the cut end before placing it in water to help extend the life of
the cut poinsettia. Send them home with your guests as a remembrance
of your gathering.
Consider purchasing and using small transplants or seeds of herbs to
dress up the table. Set transplants in a small container you have on
hand, purchase or create. Paint, decoupage or dress up empty fruit
and vegetable cans, wrap them in burlap and secure with a ribbon or
wrap in foil. Set a few seeds secured with a ribbon on or next to
each plate. Your guests will enjoy growing and harvesting them in an
indoor herb garden this winter or in their gardens and containers
during the growing season.
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Use bits and pieces of greens from your Christmas
tree, garland and wreaths. Arrange these in small containers or
vases. Combine with small berry-laden stems, cones, candy canes or
colorful holiday picks. Gather a few evergreen twigs, add a fragrant
cinnamon stick and secure with a ribbon.
Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books,
including the Midwest Gardener’s Handbook, 2nd Edition and Small
Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything”
instant video and DVD series and the nationally syndicated Melinda’s
Garden Moment TV & radio program. Myers is a columnist and
contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and was commissioned
by Summit for her expertise to write this article. Myers’ website is www.MelindaMyers.com.
[Photo courtesy of MelindaMyers.com]
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