Christmas Wreaths

During the festive season, like lots of other people, I like to hang a wreath on my front door.  For years , I have been buying a holly wreath and spending £6-£10 each time.  A couple of years ago, having just bought one, it suddenly struck me that I could probably make my own pretty easily and save myself some money.  In the New Year, I simply took the wreath I had bought apart and kept the wire ring base for future use.

Last year, I took the plunge and couldn't believe how easy it actually was to make.  This year, I have done the same again.  Besides the wire ring, which you can easily buy from a garden centre, recycle from an old wreath or make yourself, the main material is foliage.  If you have a garden, you can simply raid the shrubbery, if not, there is plenty of free holly and ivy in the countryside.  You don't even need very much.

I used the shrubbery in my garden and decided to use mainly honeysuckle and mulberry. The honeysuckle is really useful as it is in long, flexible tendrils.  I'm sure someone somewhere will tell me that they are not traditional or have the wrong connotation in Victorian flower language but it's my wreath and I will use whatever comes to hand.  That's the joy of making your own, you can use whatever you like!

When I had stripped the wreath in January this year, I left all of the wires in place, together with the bow and pine cones which were on the wreath when I originally bought it.  Leaving them on not only saved time but also offered anchor points for me to thread the honeysuckle into.  I only roughly secured each piece as I planned to tie it all in more securely at the end.

Having covered most of the base in honeysuckle, I then added the mulberry.  I quite like the speckled leaves as well as the different leaf size and shape, I think it adds more interest.  It is worth remembering that if you do decided to use holly, wear gloves so you don't get prickled.  That's another good reason to raid the shrubbery!

Once I was happy with the foliage, I wound a long piece of gold tinsel around the wreath.  Not only does it give a bit of sparkle, it is also really useful for tying in the foliage securely to the wreath and also hides a multitude of sins if you have stalks and gaps showing.  Finally, I jiggled the bow and pine cones into more prominent positions and it was ready to hang on the door.