Christmas Countdown: Ivy garland

We returned from my parents' house this weekend with a large bag of ivy gathered from their garden. I hoped that I could manage to somehow form it into decorations that would replace a Christmas tree and help our home look really festive. Armed with florists' tape and some ribbon, I had a go and discovered it was harder than I initially thought to make something that looked like it should be in my home rather than on a compost heap.

My attempts looked a little weedy, so I've added some large gold stars to bulk it out (and perhaps draw the eye away from the ivy...)

I've got lots more greenery to experiment with, and hopefully I'll get better as time goes on.