Christmas wreath

[WhatWouldCaitlinDo]

Does anyone know how to make one? We've just moved from SW London to rural Surrey and are surrounded by holly bushes, ivy, etc. But I don't know where to start!

This is our first Christmas in our own home (as opposed to with either set of parents) so I am hoping to do Christmas properly.

Years ago we took the DC to a local visitors centre before Christmas and they had a wreath making session.

We had to go out and collect long twiggy stems (bendy ones) and twist them into an approximate circle. The ends secured with wire then a loop made (covered with ribbon later )
Then we added in leaf and branch bits.

I know 90% of this was the going and collecting the twigs that appealed to the DC and TBH the finished results were "ok" but not something I'd hang on the door, but that's more to do with my lack of craft skills.

You could get an oasis wreath from florists ( it's set into a round flat tray ) to hold the stems, but you need alot to cover.
And bear in mind it's quite heavy.

I make an ivy wreath every year . Long strands of garden ivy, twisted round into a circle about 12" diameter.
Large red ribbon bow and a hoop.
But I have a UPVC door so I use one of those clear plastic sucker hooks or the 3M white adhesive hook (not a nail) .

If you give them a spray every day, they do last.
Some people use fruits and flowers but that's a bit OTT for me.

(A couple of years ago I bought a wreath with lights for outdoor, It;s lovely. That goes on my outside door and the ivy wreath on the inner door)

You will need a wreath ring, a bag of moss, a reel of wreath wire and about 60 pieces of heavy gauge wire.

Mould the moss tightly into a sausage shape and wire it tightly to the frame. Tuck all the ends of wire into the moss. Make a hook to attach the ring to ribbon so you can hang it.

Bend your wires to make "hair pins" Take pieces of foliage, strip the bottoms about 2 inches up, hold them in one hand and put your hairpin against the stripped base. Take one end of the hair pin and wrap it round the bunch 3 times. You should have a foliage bunch with a wire prong at the bottom.

When you've wired all your foliage, take your moss ring and push the wired foliage into the moss. To make it more secure if you insert the wire on an angle away from you, you can then bend the foliage bunch back on itself.

Insert foliage bunches either side of the first, so the inner, top and outer circle of your ring are covered.

Go right round the ring, each foliage bunch should overlap the one preceding.

Then decorate.

I'd advise against the Oasis ring. It's a tempting cheat, but the stuff will drop out and one the foam is holed it's hard to re-insert the foliage.

Another option is to get lots of birch twigs. There will be lots around after a high wind. You can create a ring by twisting the pieces around each other. Secure with wire.

There are lots of good youtube tutorials. The ones I watch are in Danish but I'm sure there will be English ones too