How to Make Your Own Christmas Urn Arrangements

Here is what you need to make your urn arrangements: 1 large pot (make sure it fits inside your urn first), 3 or 4 blocks of oasis, 1 pair of snips, 1 bunch of cedar branches, 2 bunches of white pine branches, 1 bunch of spruce branches, dogwood/curly willow/birch poles or whatever you want to put in the centre for height, lastly you need accessories such as pinecones, berries, wicker balls, etc.

First you will need to soak your oasis blocks in water overnight. After soaking, you are ready to fill the pot. Place 2 blocks in the centre of the pot, then cut the 3rd block as shown and stick these pieces in the sides. If you are using birch poles, you can separate your blocks and stick the poles in the centre. If you are using something like dogwood you might want to use a 4th piece of oasis which you can cut long ways into 4 and shove in the empty corners.

Then take what you are using for centre height and stick it directly in the centre making sure it is straight. I thought I'd try a topiary style this year so I used a stick with a wicker ball on the top.

Next you will need to make a clean cut from the end of each branch of cedar, then stick them into the pot around the outside edges starting with 4 branches spaced equally apart. Then just fill in the gaps with more branches.

Then you are going to start adding the white pine behind the cedar in the same way using 4 of the largest and best main branches first, then filling in the gaps making sure your arrangement looks even all around.

The next step is to add some spruce branches behind the pine close to the centre.

I used one of these spruce branches to wrap around the centre stick. Then I continued to add small pieces of spruce and pine throughout the entire arrangement filling in any empty spots and checking it from all angles to make sure it is balanced and even on all sides.

I added some pieces of cedar to the wicker ball and secured them by pushing them through the holes using a twig.

Lastly the final touches are added; I used osage oranges that I stuck on the end of sticks and also magnolia leaves. These magnolia leaves were a great find. They are artificial and cost just $3 per stem. They look very realistic and were less expensive than real stems, plus I can reuse them next year. I also added a few birch twigs and I am still hoping to throw in some berries and add a large bow. I will post a final picture tomorrow showing my completed arrangement. I'm also planning to make a coordinating  arrangement for my other urn using mainly birch poles and some branches with lights.