How to Give Your Poinsettia an Upgrade: Easy DIY Christmas Centerpiece + Table

Elevate your poinsettia and transform it into an easy and festive centerpiece for your holiday table or Christmas season! You’ll also find tips for using poinsettias as cut flowers, how to craft a poinsettia from a paper napkin and mix up a Sparkling Poinsettia Cocktail in celebration of National Poinsettia Day!

Merry Thursday and Happy National Poinsettia Day!

I’m celebrating with a holiday table and easy way to give your grocery store poinsettia an upgrade!

I started with a 6-inch poinsettia from the grocery store.

I removed the paper from my poinsettia pot and placed it in a favorite white scalloped edge

bowl purchased from Pier 1 several years ago.

Raise your hand if you miss Pier 1…*sniff*

I added some berry picks from my Christmas stash, along with red ornament picks and pinecone picks (saved from previous Lynch Creek Farm centerpieces). The picks added some sparkle and interest and help fill in the larger pot for a table centerpiece. You can find holiday ornament and floral picks at Hobby Lobby or Michaels.

Ta da . . .

An easy way to elevate your grocery store poinsettia and holiday centerpiece with a little pizazz in under 10 minutes!

Poinsettia plates and napkins join tartan plaid on the chargers as well as a plaid fringed throw,

which serves as a tablecloth, and is topped with a poinsettia table runner.

Beaded napkin rings marry a poinsettia napkin with plaid. . .

‘Joy’ and ‘Noel’ salad plates add some seasonal holiday messages and sentiments,

as well as black accents, to pair with the table runner.

Fun Poinsettia Facts:

National Poinsettia Day is observed annually on December 12^th, the date coinciding with the death of Joel Roberts Poinsett, American botanist and first U.S. Minister to Mexico who brought poinsettia cuttings back to his greenhouses in Charleston, South Carolina in 1825.

Paul Ecke, Jr., a farmer in California, became the father of the modern-day poinsettia industry. He is credited for discovering a grafting technique causing seedlings to branch and creating a hybridizing program, resulting in the poinsettia lasting months, instead of days.

According to the USDA, poinsettias are America’s number-one potted plant, with nearly 80 million sold in the 6-week period between Thanksgiving and Christmas, contributing $250 million annually to the U.S. economy.

There are over 100 cultivated varieties of poinsettia that have been patented in the U.S.

The Legend of the Poinsettia is a Mexican folktale and story of a young girl who wants to bring a gift for baby Jesus but is too poor to buy one. When an angel appears to tell her that the most important thing is to give a gift with love, she collects a handful of weeds to bring and place in the manger. The weeds miraculously turn into beautiful red poinsettia flowers, demonstrating that the true meaning of a gift is not its value, but rather the giver’s intention, making the poinsettia a symbol of Christmas giving.

What to look for when choosing a poinsettia:

🎄 Make sure that the small yellow flowers in the center of the bracts, known as cyathia, are fresh and not turning brown.

🎄 Examine the leaves and bracts to see if they look healthy, including the lower foliage, selecting one without droopy leaves.

🎄 Since poinsettias are originally tropical plants, they need indoor temperatures between 65 and 75 degrees to thrive.

🎄 Overwatering is the most common problem when it comes to poinsettia care. The decorative pot covers most poinsettias are packaged in can hold too much water. Punch holes in the bottom of your cover for drainage and add a saucer and empty and excess water that drains.

Did you know you can use poinsettias as cut flowers in arrangements or vases?

The secret is to sear the stems which stops the sap from flowing out the flowers, causing them to wilt. The easiest way to sear the stems is over a candle flame since you want to sear it as soon as you cut it. The milky sap will boil or bubble under the candle flame, turning the ends black . . .no cause for alarm ;). If you’re removing any large leaves and you see the milky sap appear, you’ll also want to lightly sear the points where the leaves were attached. Add your cut stems to tepid water mixed with floral preservative. The poinsettia stems are hollow and will start drawing water.

Mix up a Poinsettia Cocktail for a Merry December, brunch, or to enjoy Christmas Eve!

No shaking, stirring, or straining required, mixing right in your glass. The are numerous variations of a Poinsettia Cocktail, but they essentially start with the same ingredients: Champagne or sparkling wine of your choice, cranberry juice and a splash of orange liqueur.

This is the kind of cocktail, we typically don’t mix, just eyeball. The basic measurements are 1/2 ounce orange liqueur, 3 ounces cranberry juice, topped with Champagne or sparkling wine. Adjust the ratio to your preference and float some frozen cranberries to keep your Sparkling Poinsettia Cocktail chilled and festive!

Last but not least, find the steps to make a fun gift wrap embellishment, a Poinsettia in lieu of a bow, blooming from a cocktail napkin!

Start by folding your cocktail napkin into a triangle. Fold that triangle in half and then half again.

Draw a petal shape with the center of the petal on the folds of the napkin.

The tips of your petals will be on the open edges, the center of the flower petals will be on the closed edge.

Cut your petal; open up your flowers and pull apart the layers.

Stack layers in two piles, alternating petals, then stack piles, rotating petals so all show.

Fold flower in half and punch a hole; thread hole with string or twine.

Bunch up the petals to close up your poinsettia and add some texture and dimension to the petals.

Open it back up, dot center with glue, sprinkle with glitter.

When glue is dry, shake off excess glitter and attach your poinsettia to your package.

You can also use a luncheon size napkin to make a larger poinsettia.

Use them singly or stack a small cocktail napkin size poinsettia on top of a larger luncheon size stack of paper petals.

Table Details:

Magenta Exclusion Poinsettia Plates / HomeGoods, several years ago

Glad Tidings Chalkboard Plates / Pier 1, several years ago, used HERE

Tartan Chargers / Williams-Sonoma

 Napkins / HomeGoods & Pottery Barn

Napkin Rings / MacKenzie-Childs, several years ago

Tartan Throw / HomeGoods, several years ago

Poinsettia Table Runner / The Farmhouse by Rachel Ashwell

Flatware / Mikasa Cameo Gold 

Red Goblets / Mikasa French Countryside

Do you buy a poinsettia in December?

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 Between Naps on the Porch