In another moment of domestic goddessness and probably because I have been looking at Martha Stewart’s website too much I decided to make a Christmas wreath.
I used to make them years back at our old house. Back then we had a lovely front door that invited the addition of a wreath and I had more time as I didn’t work full-time. Our front door now is Ok but its UPVC so you can’t attach anything to it. I have tried numerous stick on hooks but they just don’t take the weight of a wreath. Last year my son put up a hook by the front door and it looked better than I had anticipated.
I was going to collect some holly from work where it grows plentifully in the grounds but then I remembered how badly I used to react to the scratches it causes as you try to assemble the wreath. Instead I stopped at my parents and cut some Golden Cypress as the background plant for the wreath. My parents have a ridiculously large Golden Cypress that they inherited with the house and are only too pleased to see another bit chopped off!!
I then collected a range of evergreen foliage from my garden and was pleased to see how many evergreen plants I have. I went to a talk earlier in the week and the speaker suggested that you should have 50% evergreen plants in the garden for it to look good. This did seem rather a lot but I can see the point. Anyway, I collected ivy, rosemary, choysia, euonymous and shiny dark green leaves from an unidentified plant.
When I used to make wreaths I used one of those really thick wire coat hangers you get from dry cleaners. As I didn’t have any of these I used two lesser wire coat hangers and wired them together for strength. Then I started by wiring a layer of Cypress around the wire hoop. I had gone to buy florists wire this morning and a big red bow but the florist was shut. I then realised that I had plenty of wire in the garage from tying in various climbers etc. Having created a base I then built up the layers with the other bits of foliage, wiring each in place.
As I couldn’t get a red bow to embellish the wreath I had bought some wide gold ribbon to try to make one. The ribbon turned out to be one-sided and very stiff and the bow I created was just too big and bulky for the wreath and looked incongruous. The only other thing I could find was some of that thin gold ribbon you use on presents so I tied a few small bows around the wreath and I have to say I am quick pleased with the effect.
It isn’t as rich and colourful as the wreaths I used to create but I think it has a certain elegance about it and it cost nothing which is even more satisfying. The rosemary also gives off a wonderful scent