I think hanging up mistletoe is super cute. Excuses for more kisses are never a bad idea in my book! But why is it so hard to find fresh mistletoe? I tried to find some a couple years ago to bring to a Christmas party, and I went to a bunch of Christmas tree stands 'cause I figured they would have it and grocery stores with floral departments, but no one did. Finally, this year I got some at Molbaks, but I think you can probably find it at florist shops as well. Since finding it was so hard, I didn't want to be boring and just hang it right up with the tacky plastic ribbon it came with, so I came up with this: Terrarium Style Clear Glass Ornament with Mistletoe! It's a great project if you're throwing a holiday party this year. Just make sure to serve some spiked punch or eggnog, and things could get really wild.
Materials:
large clear glass ornament*
ribbon
fresh mistletoe
string
*Clear glass ornaments can be found at craft stores in a variety of sizes. You want the extra large size for this project, mine are about 4 or 5 inches. I don't recommend smaller because the opening will be too small to fit your mistletoe without ruining it.
Process:
Remove the metal cap and hook from your clear ornament. This should come out easily. Cut several pieces of mistletoe, of varying lengths but all shorter than your ornament. I like to do one that will almost touch the bottom and a bunch about half that length. It fills the ornament best that way. Tie pieces of string to each stem of mistletoe and carefully insert them one by one into the clear ball. Your mistletoe stems need to be pretty narrow, unfortunately, to get them through the opening without damage. Adjust the strings so it all hangs nicely and tie together as one bundle. Now, tie the strings as closely as possible to the metal cap and replace the cap (squeeze the wires together to get them inside the opening). Add a nice ribbon to hang it from and a pretty bow and you're done! Now find a high traffic place to hang it for maximum smooching opportunities. Pucker up!
