A wealth of wreaths

While holiday decorations and preparations never seem to progress on schedule, I did enjoy a few days and nights of wreath construction at a local nursery. There is something about walking in, having all the supplies present and ready to go, and then walking away with a complete project without having to clean-up.

This year, my first project, and one of my favorites, was a Willamsburg wreath. I had in fact participated in this class last year and promised that I would use the frame (preserved magnolia leaves stapled to a piece of pine) again this year. However, towards the end of November, I just couldn't get the right motivation or vision (I did discover that mice will eat the dried pomegranates left on the wreath from last year) and decided to repeat the course again this year, with a twist - the wreath would first serve as a Thanksgiving centerpiece and then up on the door leading to the basement in December.

With the class complete, I was then able to tackle remaking the wreath using last year's frame. I must admit, there is nothing more fun than making a wreath using nail and hot glue guns. Bam, bam, bam, leaves down; bam, bam, bam, greens down; and now time to decorate. Pound in three nails and stick on the apples, and yup, those are real apples, red delicious.



The barn was converted into the craft cave for this adventure. I picked up a copy of mixed green swags from Trader Joe's, and then bam, bam, bam, greens on. Holly trimmed from the garden and some aging apples from the fridge, and wreath done. Even without the leaves, I think this project could be done with just greens and a piece of wood as a backing (we screwed in a hook before starting in order to hang the wreath).

The other two projects were a mixed green swag that is hanging over our front door and a mixed green wreath. The swag was built from scratch using a variety of greens (balsam, cedar, pine) and then decorated. I can make bunches of greens in my sleep and this was only one wreath!

The final project was originally to be built from scratch, but instead we started with a balsam wreath and added a variety of greens (much easier than the swag). This allowed more time for decorations - dried fruit and lavender - this wreath smells good! Christmas 2008 will be remembered as a wealth of wreaths.