Create an intimate woodland effect around your mantel with arching branches of fresh -- and wonderfully aromatic -- blue Atlas cedar (which you can order from greenvalleygrower.com or a florist, allowing ample time). The cedar's spiky needles contrast with the grace of its weeping form and the delicate paperwhites at the branches' base. The bluish cast of the branches sets off touches of red, gray, and silver around the room. (To keep the branches from drying out, add water daily as you would to a Christmas tree.)

Cedar Arrangement with Paperwhites How-To 

Place a bucket inside a planter, and adhere floral foam to bucket using waterproof floral tape. Insert branch into foam, and fill planter with foam; then place tightly packed pots of paperwhites around the base. Cover tops of bucket and pots with reindeer moss. 

What you need: Paperwhite bulbs, from $7.75 for 10, johnscheepers.com. Reindeer moss, $10 for 11 oz., save-on-crafts.com. Floral foam, $1.29 each, by Oasis, barbarasgardens.com. Vintage ribbon, 1 1/8", in Silver, $20 per yd., tinseltrading.com.