Cheap Tricks: Pizzazz for Poinsettias

Snow Maestas

The Ecke Design Center created spectacular holiday displays during the 2010 Ecke Poinsettia Open House,
carrying their “Live. Work. Play.” themes first revealed at Spring Trials forward into the holiday season.
The displays demonstrate how you can inspire your customers with holiday decorating tips once they get their poinsettias home.

TREND: “Live”
Natural products and materials, such as wood, stone, moss, raffia, bamboo, grapevine, pine cones, earth-friendly, biodegradable, sustainable

Dining In Style
Jubilee Red, Winter Rose Red and mini Polar Bear are featured in this Zen-like approach to holiday décor. A dramatic moss cone basket centerpiece with mini LED lights floats above the table. Each place setting has a moss place mat, bamboo plate and flatware and a leaf-wrapped teacup with Winter Rose poinsettia party favors for guests to take home. A moss-and-vine purse with a poinsettia makes a great grab-and-go gift that’s used to decorate the back of each bamboo chair.

Poinsettia “Purse”suit
Women love their purses, so why not a purse for plants? This moss-and-vine purse is tied to the back of the guest’s chair to add holiday cheer to any gathering. And it makes an awesome gift for a guest to take home.

Poinsettias are NOT Poisonous!
Here’s a creative way to inform consumers that poinsettias are not poisonous to humans or animals—Winter Rose Poinsettia Salad served with Paul Ecke Ranch Dressing!

TREND: “Work”
Urban-influenced couture style, including black, white, heavy metals (silver, gold, copper) and glam (sparkle, glitter, crystals, mirror, pearl)

Gift Basket Glamour
Take an acrylic champagne tub and fill it with a poinsettia, bottle of champagne, cranberry juice and a recipe card for making a poinsettia cocktail. Fill in with a bar towel, ornament, zebra napkins and acrylic ice cubes to create a spirited gift basket for the discriminating hostess. Use this to inspire customers on how they can use their poinsettias at home.

Work It!
The “Work” trend is all about glamour, high fashion and drama. Colors like black, white and silver make dramatic complements to bright red poinsettias. Metal containers, black sequined pot covers and couture Santa pails with glitter and feathers add sparkle to the holidays. Zebra and other animal prints are hot right now! A fashionable black, wire corset becomes an eye-catching container.

Celebrate!
Celebrating and champagne are the key themes here with an elegant, cranberry-filled giant champagne flute featuring Ice Punch. The crystal bead spray acts as “bubbles” fizzing out of the top of the glass to create the perfect centerpiece for this festive belly-bar table. At each place setting, there are black champagne flutes holding a mini poinsettia tied with zebra ribbon—a nice party favor for guests.

Grab-and-Go Gifts
One leg of these “Santa pants” holds a bottle of champagne or wine while the other holds an Ice Punch mini poinsettia. The poinsettia serves as the gift bow in this party favor or hostess gift.

Sparkle, Dazzle and Shine
Red fabric is used to make the dazzling red dress featured on the magazine cover spill off of the print and onto the display table. A recycled white platform stiletto is repurposed into a fashionable pot cover for a mini poinsettia. Retailers can cross-merchandise products by selling them together. Use a silver metal champagne bucket as a pot cover for a red poinsettia. The bucket can be used in the home long after the holidays are over.

TREND: “Play”
Bright, fruity colors are cool, refreshing and fun—apple or lime green, raspberry pink, mango orange, mimosa yellow, turquoise, purple

Playful Whimsy
Inspire consumers with an explosion of bold, bright and fun color sprinkled throughout this holiday trend display.

The Holiday Kitchen
Fill your holiday kitchen display with yummy treats and gift ideas. Poinsettia cupcakes, measuring cups with a mini poinsettia, and a gift basket idea: a giant cupcake cake pan that holds a poinsettia along with baking supplies. Inspiring and fun for kids of all ages! GP

Snow Maestas is marketing creative consultant for Ecke Ranch in Encinitas, California, and is the lead designer at the Ecke Design Center.