Feeling Festive – Homemade Wreath

A cold and frosty Saturday morning seemed like the perfect time to start feeling a bit festive and decorate our little house for Christmas. Coming from a family of florists, I realised that I had no excuse not to make my own decorations. Having spent many hours watching my mum turn cut stems gathered from the garden into beautiful arrangements, it was now my turn to give it a go. After an hour or so collecting berries and branches from the fields surrounding my home, I was ready to start. Here’s how I did it: ONE. Gather your materials. Evergreen plants, seed heads and berries are ideal for a seasonal wreath. I literally collected anything I liked the look of. I had far too much for a wreath, however whatever was left I knew I could use to make other decorations or simply put in a vase. Some of the plants I collected were: Ivy, Hawthorn berries, Travellers Joy seed heads, Larch cones, Rosehip berries, conifer and fir. TWO. Make the base. I used long stands of Ivy, which I bound together with wire, to make a base to build the wreath on. The ring perhaps wasn’t as rigid as I would have liked, something like Willow would have made a stronger frame. I used galvanised gardeners wire to bind the wreath together. THREE. Start wiring. Cut small pieces of your chosen material and start wiring them to the ring. I had decided that I wanted my wreath to have a definite top and bottom, so I started by wiring part of the bottom section so I knew where the top would be. The wiring is quite hard work on your hands, as it needs to be as tight as possible! FOUR. Building up the layers. After wiring a bottom section I actually moved up to the top of the wreath and started layering pieces back down toward the bottom again. This meant that I was always covering up my last wired section with a new bit of greenery and all the foliage would be pointing upwards. I used Nordman fir for the majority of the wreath, occasionally adding Ivy, berries or seed heads to add interest. FIVE.  Adding extra bits. Once reaching the bottom of the wreath I went back up to the top again and did exactly the same on the other side. After that I wired lots of extra Travellers Joy seed heads to the bottom of the wreath to make a focal point. SIX. Balancing the shape. At this point I probably could have stopped, however I felt like the wreath was still missing a few finishing touches. As a lot if the focus was at the bottom of the wreath I used some brown gardeners string to bind some beautiful berries into the top part of the wreath. I felt that it balanced the overall appearance and also added a more rustic element by breaking the circular shape of the wreath. Having the block of string at the top also meant I could incorporate a loop for hanging it up. SEVEN. Finishing touches. Every wreath needs a bit of sparkle, so I twisted wire around the bases of pinecones and sprayed them silver before wiring them into the foliage. EIGHT. The final flourish. To complete my festive decoration I made a large raffia bow and tied it in place. I then hung my wreath up, stood back and admired the lovely collection of foliage, berries, colours and textures I had married together on a frosty Saturday morning. LEFTOVERS. As I had hoped, I had quite a lot left over once I had finished my wreath. I made a very simple length of swag by wiring together conifer branches and long tendrils of ivy. Then attaching seed heads of Travellers Joy with raffia bows. Simple, but effective. There is something so lovely about bringing greenery inside at Christmas time.