Make a window box

Flame-colored foliage adds just the right touch on the mantel of this outdoor fireplace. The arrangement, made of 8- to 12-inch stems of berries and leaves, fills a window box that’s 24 inches long, 8 inches wide, and 6 1/2 inches deep.

Pin oak, liquidambar, and snowball viburnum clippings are arranged with stem ends in moist florist’s foam; clusters of bright red pyracantha berries spill over the box’s edges.

HOW-TO: Soak three blocks of florist’s foam in a bucket of water, then set them on plastic trays inside the window box. Poke the clippings into the foam. Plastic trays and florist’s foam are available at craft stores; window boxes are sold at nurseries and garden centers.