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What is mistletoe? A parasitic vine that’s sprinkled with highly poisonous berries and has a name that means "dung twig." Mistletoe is somewhat ironically the traditional symbol of holiday romance. It’s also a unique Christmas decoration that you can easily make yourself.
Using Mistletoe
Since the mistletoe vine itself is an attractive plant with shiny white candy-like berries and supple green leaves, it doesn't need much to turn the traditional green into a snazzy winter decoration for your home. You can go the rustic route and use only the most basic branches and twine, or you could cover the whole twig with glitter and pink bows.
Buy fresh mistletoe from a florist or find artificial vines at your go-to craft store. However, if there will be children or pets around your house for the holidays, fresh mistletoe is not recommended, as the berries and, to a lesser extent, the leaves of the mistletoe vine,are toxic if ingested. To prevent accidental transfer, consider using rubber gloves while making this craft.
Difficulty Level: Easy
To make a simple hanging mistletoe decoration, cut three 6-inch sections of vine and fasten the ends together with a rubber band. Tie a ribbon around the vines to cover up the rubber band and make a loop out of the ribbon to hang the decoration. Add twigs sprayed with glitter, small Christmas ornaments, bells or ribbon variations to the bundle of branches.
Difficulty Level: Easy
Another traditional mistletoe decoration is the kissing ball. For this you need a foam ball from the craft store, green paint and a paintbrush (or just green spray paint), real or artificial evergreen and mistletoe branches, straight pins, ribbon and any other embellishments you may want. First, paint the Styrofoam ball green so you won't see it through the branches. Then, use straight pins to secure ribbon in a loop at what will be the top of the kissing ball to hang it. Push the evergreen branches into the foam ball — you might have to remove some needles from the ends of the branches to get them to stick into the Styrofoam. Cover the entire foam ball with evergreen, then insert sections of mistletoe evenly throughout the evergreens. Lastly, add stems of winter berries, small branches of other greens or use push pins to secure sparkly beads amongst the branches.
Difficulty Level: Easy
Real or artificial mistletoe can also be used to accent your other Christmas decorations. Add a few pieces of vine to wreaths, centerpieces and garland. And just between us, if you can't find actual mistletoe, pretty much any green vine or branch with a red bow on it will pass. Don't worry, we won't tell.
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