DATE: Saturday, November 22, 1997           TAG: 9711210106

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Column 

SOURCE: Larry Maddry 

                                            LENGTH:   72 lines

YULE DECORATIONS CAN BE NATURAL EXPRESSION

HOLIDAY DECOR USING NATURE'S GIFTS. This holiday season, let nature play a role in your festivities, and create your own inexpensive decorations culled from the garden and woods. Pine cones, grapevines, twisted bare branches, evergreen clippings, wild rose hips, birch bark and seed pods can all be turned into interesting creations.

- New York Times Special Features

YEP, NATURAL products are what it's all about this Christmas. There's no telling what may be hanging out in your pantry or garbage bin that will make a nifty Christmas item for your dining room or hall table.

All it takes is a little imagination. And that's why Martha Stewart Maddry is here.

So let's start by getting rid of those tasteless plastic reindeer, the Elvis Christmas decanter and the ceramic Santa elves.

Nature is what we're after here. And as a public service, I am offering a few decorative items that are guaranteed to be the talk of your neighborhood.

Leaping Sardines. There's no better place to start holiday cheer than at the punch or eggnog bowl. But let's be honest. The scene is static. Same old bowl and it just sits there.

With the leaping sardines, you can really get a jump on Christmas. Imagine the thrill of creating your very own virtual-reality punch bowl, where sardines leap out of the bowl onto your dining room table!

And the ingredients are right there in your pantry. Simply allow sardines to dry outside the can for three days. Then brush red and green food coloring onto the little fish, and sprinkle Christmas glitter on each one.

Make a wicket from a green coat hanger, and string the fish on it so they make a graceful arc into the horseradish dish.

The Vienna Sausage Christmas Tree House. Kids are what Christmas is all about, and there's nothing they like better than a tree house. So why not combine the two?

Did you ever stop to think what Vienna sausages look like? OK . . . but do you know what they also look like? Logs.

And you can build a tree house of them in the branches of a tree made from toothpicks and Elmer's glue. (Use the leftover glue to anchor the limb in a flowerpot filled with baked beans.)

What a novel centerpiece for your dining room table. Color the logs red and green before constructing the house in the tree.

The Cow That Jumped Over the Christmas Moon Pie. The holidays are a good time to keep Southern traditions alive. And there's nothing more Southern than a Moon Pie.

Here's a nice display for either your dining room table or mantel that's inexpensive and colorful. Remove the wrapper from the Moon Pie and sprinkle it with silver glitter. Then suspend it from the ceiling with fishing line.

Get a child's plastic cow at a toy store and garnish it with a wreath of natural holly.

The Visions of Sugar Plums Dust Ball. Did you know that there's an all-natural product under your bed or refrigerator right now that can be used as an enchanting Christmas display?

Yes, it's a dust ball.

Stuff a large dust ball in a fishbowl and decorate it with old pairs of rolled purple socks before installing twinkling fairy lights.

Grits in a Gourd. Who says you can't get a handle on Christmas? It's easy to create your own Christmas tableau using a gourd filled with grits, which resemble snow.

Paint the gourd with red and white stripes. Plant Christmas figurines of children in holiday togs around a snowman made from a frozen hush puppy painted white.

Collard in a Pot. The lowly collard plant takes on new life in a pot wrapped in bright red foil and decorated with bright bird feathers.

An attractive backdrop of pussy willow sprigs and dried fatback enhances the yuletide effect. ILLUSTRATION: Color illustration by Janet Shaughnessy/VP

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