Fresh flowers are a natural way to stretch Christmas Club savings. Available in a host of holiday hues, these decorating aides will keep a room bursting with color from Thanksgiving to New Year's. This year, select a holiday decorating theme and implement it with a fresh, natural approach. This season is expected to explode with color, according to early holiday purchasing trends. Glittering jewel tones will reign at the center of one of the hottest trends, says Phil Marvin, president of Jim Marvin Enterprises, Dixon, Tenn.

"Royal purple, cerise, and red, these jewel tones are very strong," says Marvin. "European mouth-blown ornaments, glass beads and baubles, shiny, matte and iridescent surfaces, are also strong this season."

Flowers of deep purple, ruby red and saturated pink slip naturally into this trend. Fill silver bowls with a few lush blooms and heighten their color with a gathering of plum and iridescent glass balls. In the foyer, greet guests elegantly, with a statuesque arrangement of cerise flowers in a regal crystal vase. Magnify the beauty with glittering ornaments and candles.

Another hot trend is the majestic warmth of copper and gold balls, opalescent ornaments and gilded ribbon. Velvety soft flowers of lemon yellow and ivory complete this shimmering beauty.

The natural look, with simple wreaths of greens and vines, is also still popular, says Marvin. Fresh flowers can keep this look evolving with the season. From early fall until Thanksgiving, proclaim autumn with yellow and orange blooms and bittersweet berries. With the approach of December, replace fall color with bright, winter reds. Twigs and moss will add to a woodsy feeling with blooms of dark reds and wine.

To carry a look throughout a room or house, wrap stems of flowers with holiday ribbon and place in a water tube. Place them in a wreath or across the branches of the Christmas tree. Flowers can be tucked into unusual locations, such as a bookcase or a china hutch, to extend the theme.

Some ornaments are designed to hold water and one or two flowers. Their fragile beauty in clear, colored, and marbled glass can be hung in window, or along a banister, as well as on wreaths and trees. Suspend them from a chandelier to delight guests.