Re-Inventing A Wreath

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Making a wreath for the door is always fun.  Coming up with ideas, gathering the materials, pulling it all together, and finally hanging the finished wreath is one way I celebrate the change of seasons.  And not just at Christmas; I make wreathes throughout the year.

I remember many cold December days, when I wandered around the garden with clippers and a large bucket of water, pruning the evergreens in preparation for making Christmas wreathes.  I usually attach bundles of mixed greens to straw wreath forms with U shaped wire pins.  And oh, my hands get so cold and sticky and scratched in the process, though the evergreen branches smell wonderful!

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Holly

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Today has been sun-drenched and passably warm, after the morning’s frost burned off.  As the day wore on, I decided it was a pretty good day for the annual cutting of the greens, and went in search of my supplies.

A spur of the moment decision to make our wreathes ended up demanding yet another trip to the craft store.  I need two wreathes for our front porch, and could only find a single straw form.  This of course drew comment from my partner about the dozen or so retired wreathes hanging in the garage.

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A finished wreath from 2013

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But we headed out to the store anyway, and I searched aisle after aisle for the forms I had in mind.  Finally, in the back corner of the place I found three sizes of straw wreath:  huge, small, and tiny.  None matched the medium wreath form waiting at home.  What to do? 

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A wreath in progress…. 2013

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We walked around the store for another 10 minutes or so with two large straw wreath forms in the cart.  And all the while I was weighing the effort it would take to rehabilitate some not-so-gently-used retired grapevine wreathes resting in the basement, against the too many dollars it would require to buy these jumbo straw hoops.

A look at the long line waiting for check-out clinched the deal.  We left the new wreath forms for someone else, and headed home to see what could be done with what we had.

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Now, the grapevine wreathes waiting for us in the basement  were lovely when they were new.  And I have remade them at least once since.

But the hot glue which once held them together was pulling loose, the bright green reindeer moss had faded to grey, and they were a sad lot, to be kind.  I pulled the remaining shells away and cleaned them up a bit, before taking them out to a patch of sunshine in the front yard.  It was barely warm enough to gild them, but gild them we did.

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2014

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Gold paint makes most things a bit better, or at least a bit more interesting.   I left the wreathes to dry in the sunlight, while I set off with the clippers for a bit of green.

My first stop was the Eucalyptus.  It froze back to the ground last winter, but has come out strong again this year.  Knowing that it might be ruined again by cold weather, I didn’t hesitate to cut quite a bit of the newest growth.

Next, I pruned the lowest branches from a rogue seedling of Virginia red cedar.  The tree is about 6′ tall now and a bit of limbing up did it no harm.

Finally, I gave the large old Rosemary in our front garden a good trim.  The cold will darken this summer’s leaves soon enough.  I cut a generous portion for our wreathes.

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That was plenty of greenery for the design I had in mind, which would allow some of the grapevine and original decorations to show as well.

That said, I quickly realized that the pins I’d gotten last month for the wreathes were going to be a challenge to use on the grapevine frame.  Basically, there is nothing to grip them.  But a bit of tweaking with needle nosed pliers soon bent the ends around the strands of vine, at least enough to hold my bundles of greenery in place.

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If you are making this sort of wreath, simply combine 6 or 7 sprigs into a bundle, wrap it with a bit of wire, and secure it to the form.  Each bundle should be about 5″-7″ long, depending on the circumference of your frame.   I used the same three plants in each bundle, in the same order, for a fairly uniform appearance.  But you might also alternate the bundles for a different effect.

I covered about two-thirds of the form with greenery, leaving the original wreath to show in the open space.  I re-attached some of the gilded moss and woody flowers, and also glued the shells back to the wreath before finishing with a fresh sparkly gold ribbon bow.

I’m rather pleased with how they turned out, and even more pleased that I recycled, rather than retailed, for this project.

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Have you made your holiday wreathes yet?  If not, I hope that you draw some inspiration from this little effort, and craft your own this year.

I ended up buying our front door wreathes last year.  They were beautiful, but I also missed the DIY Christmas I’ve grown to love.

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Making a wreath is simple and satisfying.  I challenge you to DIY this year, and create something uniquely yours.   Once you’ve made your holiday wreathes, please photograph them and share their beauty with the rest of us.  Please post photos on your site, and leave a link in the comments so I can enjoy them too!

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My second wreath today

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We will enjoy a walk through Colonial Williamsburg one day soon to enjoy their beautiful seasonal wreathes.  When we do, I’ll take lots of photos to share with you again this year.  I am always delighted by the fresh takes on using fruit and greens, nuts, cones, shells and other natural (and manufactured) items in the wreathes in the historic district of Williamsburg.

Whether you love glitz and glam at the holidays, or prefer something handcrafted or inspired by nature, there are a million ways to express your holiday spirit.

I hope you will join the holiday wreath challenge this year!

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Woodland Gnome 2017

Sunday Dinner: Expecting Christmas

Holiday decorations at Colonial Williamsburg

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“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world,

and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. ”

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Norman Vincent Peale

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“Blessed is the season

which engages the whole world

in a conspiracy of love.”
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Hamilton Wright Mabie

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“He who has not Christmas in his heart

will never find it under a tree.”
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Roy L. Smith

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Photos by Woodland Gnome 2016

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A Circle Unbroken

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It is evening of the seventeenth of December.  Those of us who celebrate Christmas have entered “crunch time.”

The preparations feel endless sometimes.  Our shopping lists and “to do” lists telescope.  After the second visit this week with our friends at the main Williamsburg post office,  I am breathing a bit easier that “Christmas” is in the mail to loved ones who live far away.

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The final wreath I plan to make this year is complete, and in place on the dining room table. It is an old grapevine wreath I made years ago from “found” vines. This year I’ve added reindeer moss and oyster shells.

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It is, perhaps, the repetition, year to year, of those small family rituals of the Christmas season which make this such a special time.  Every December we are drawn back to the music, the aromas, the tastes, and the much loved Christmas decorations we have enjoyed so much in years passed.

Saturday’s task was making fruitcake for my parents.  They love our recipe, passed on from Grandmother,  based on an applesauce spice cake she loved to make when my mother was a child.   We add many different fruits and nuts, jam, cherries, and pineapple to this basic cake recipe.

I found my notes from the epic batches I used to make in the 1980’s.  That recipe called for two dozen eggs.  The other ingredients were measured in pounds.  It took an entire day of effort, and yielded at least a dozen cakes.

I only doubled the basic recipe this year, a modest effort.  Yet from cooking down the apples for applesauce to wrapping the finished cakes felt like a day’s work.

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Moss fern will thrive here in bright, indirect light, in the center of the wreath.  It is in a “semi-terrarium;” partly, but not fully grown in glass.

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Fruitcake is one of the flavors of Christmas in our family.  Tomorrow I’ll make another batch of blond fruit cakes, which Mother calls “Dundee Cake.”  It will be rich in cherries, walnuts, pecans, and dates; perfumed with a little fresh orange zest.

We’ll  have this cake ready to serve friends who stop in and to enjoy ourselves with a cup of chai.

Wreathes speak of this repetition; the unbroken circle of the year turning back to Christmas once again.

Every December I go out early in the month to cut fragrant Cedar and collect pine cones.  I cut herbs, and sometimes roses, for the year’s Christmas wreathes.  Cedar is one of the aromas of Christmas which speaks to me most poignantly.

We always went out to cut a cedar tree from a friend’s field when I was a child, and then brought it home on the roof of the car, and set it up in the living room where it filled the house with its fresh spicy green aroma.  We knew it was finally “Christmas” once our tree was lit and decorated in the living room.

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We always had an Advent Wreath on the kitchen table when I was growing up, and lit the candles each night at dinner. We lit an additional candle each week as we counted the days until Christmas. This is a gesture towards remembering that beautiful Advent wreath my mother always made for us.

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Every family has its own cherished customs.  Our expressions of Christmas are as unique as our thumbprint. 

And in the spirit of sharing our unique expressions, I offered a Holiday Wreath Challenge this year for anyone willing to share photos or a post about the wreathes and decorations you have created this year.

One of the first responses came from Jenny, who hosts the One Word Photo Challenge on her photography blog.  Jenny created a beautiful wreath from the clay she uses to construct her amazing miniature scenes.

Jenny’s beautiful wreath, handmade from clay.

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Please visit Jenny’s post to see how she constructed her wreath, step by step.

Then a dear friend and neighbor shared photos of the wreath she made around Thanksgiving time for her front door.

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Wreath by Farrokh

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The berries came on a vine she found in the New Town area while shopping one day in mid-November.  She was amazed to find them lying on the sidewalk under a tree.

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I’ve since found the same vine in the same area, but don’t know its name.  It makes for such a beautiful wreath of multicolored berries  mixed with cones.  An unexpected gift from nature; so beautifully used!

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It was several weeks more before Eliza Waters shared photos of her Christmas wreathes.

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Eliza lives in Massachusetts, and has already enjoyed snow.  In fact, snow over Thanksgiving weekend brought down some large branches of Balsam Fir which she salvaged to use in a whole series of gorgeous Christmas decorations, along with pine and pine cones.  Please visit her post to see them all. 

Next, Barbara Scott, who lives in Amelia County, Virginia shared photos of her elegant Christmas decorations.  Barbara and her husband have breathed new life into a grand Virginia country home.  She has used Blue Spruce, sent by a friend along with Magnolia and other evergreen materials in her garden to craft several stunning arrangements indoors and out.

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These are pure eye candy, so please take time to enjoy Barbara’s posts.

Speaking of “eye candy,” you may also enjoy seeing photos Chris VanCleave, The Redneck Rosarian, posted of some stunning Christmas arrangements featuring red roses and red poinsettias.  Gwennie, at Gwennie’s Garden has also pulled together some elegant and lovely Christmas decorations.  She and I share a love for luminous blue glass, which she has used  so beautifully here.

It always fascinates me to see how friends and loved ones celebrate Christmas, and what is important to their joy each year.

I love exploring trees full of antique ornaments, and seeing the keepsakes friends bring out to enjoy each December.

I like tasting cherished family recipes and trying new concoctions with chocolate, nuts, and fruit.

And I’m always fascinated with the wreathes, door decorations, and light displays which brighten up the neighborhood in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

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It brings us full circle. 

We close the year by re-visiting those things which bring us joy and comfort. 

We reach out to those people we hold dear. 

And we celebrate all things bright and beautiful in this season of light.

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Woodland Gnome 2014

 With love and appreciation to everyone who contributed to this post.

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Our  front door this December, decorated with bits from our garden and wooden birds.

Making an Evergreen Wreath

We are decorating our community center for the holiday season this weekend.  We are making the wreathes ourselves this year with greenery cut from our own gardens.  I volunteered to make one of the three wreathes, and other neighbors will hang the other two tomorrow afternoon.

Magnolia branches, from my friends garden, soaking in a bucket of warm water and floral preservative to condition them before we decorate our community center for the holidays.

My friend cut  Magnolia from her garden yesterday for our efforts.  Some of the Magnolia became the base for this wreath, and more will be used tomorrow as we decorate the windowsills inside.

Making an evergreen wreath is not only easy, but it allows you to use exactly the greens you want.  Your mailbox is probably as full as mine of catalogs offering wreathes, swags, and centerpieces handcrafted from box, cedar, holly, juniper, and yew.  These beautiful pieces are so expensive.

Fresh cut cedar and Rosemary soak in this jug of warm water and floral preservative so they are conditioned for the wreath.

They are lovely gifts for loved ones out of town and for those who have no way to cut or purchase greenery locally.   But for those of us blessed to have gardens full of evergreen shrubs, it is easy to make our own seasonal decorations.

Cut the greens a day ahead of when you plan to make the wreath so they can condition overnight.  Fill your container half full with warm water and any of the many floral preservative products according to the mixing instructions on the package.  Warm water is absorbed more quickly into the cold branches, and helps hydrate the leaves and branches before you use them in your arrangement.

Cut what you have readily available.

This straw wreath form forms the base for the wreath.

Box, yew, cedar, and juniper are good dense, bushy materials to cover the wreath.  Rosemary holds up well as it dries and smells wonderful mixed in with the other greens.  Sage, lavender, and thyme also work well in wreathes, but dry out more quickly than Rosemary.  Sage will visibly wilt, while lavender and thyme will dry in place without wilting.

These floral staples secure everything to the wreath. Simply push each into the straw form with your thumb.

Anything with berries looks lovely mixed in for accent.  Cedar often has powdery blue berries. Holly and Nandina have red berries, and Pyracantha has orange or yellow berries.  Good holly is beautiful made into wreathes when you have it.  Yellowish or bluish evergreen foliage also looks beautiful worked into a wreath.

Secure the first Magnolia leaf with a floral staple.

Your centerpiece will probably be made in a container you can refill as the greens drink.  A wreath or swag made with freshly cut greens must last the season without additional water, so it is important to condition the greens before making the wreath.

This wreath begins with a straw wreath form from the craft store.

Each new leaf hides the previous staple. The final leaf is secured under the tip of the first leaf so all staples are hidden.

They generally cost between $2 and $3, often cheaper on sale.  The greens are stuck onto the wreath with metal staples, available at craft stores and floral suppliers.  Other materials you might want are wire and floral picks to attach decorations to the wreath.

I like to begin by covering the straw form with Magnolia leaves.  This gives a nice living, green base underneath the other greenery you choose to use.

Now that the form is covered in Magnolia, we can build onto this base.

I cover the inside, outside, and front of the wreath with overlapping leaves.  The staples are hidden by the leaves layered on top.

Decide early on where the “top” of the wreath will be.  Attach a loop of wire for hanging to the wreath form with a floral staple.  Make sure this is secure enough to hold the weight of your finished wreath.

Make bundles of evergreen branches and secure each bundle to the base with a floral staple.

After covering the entire form with Magnolia leaves,  make up a bunch of mixed greens 6″-12″ long and about 5″-7″ wide.  Layer the largest material on the bottom, and shorter accent material on top of the bunch.  Secure the bunch to the form with a floral staple, making sure to catch all of the stems under the staple.

Make  additional bunches, and secure each to the form so that the top of each bunch covers the staple securing the previous bunch.   Make sure the last bunch of greens is secured to the wreath under the tops of the first bunch so its staple is also hidden.

Secure additional bundles so each previous staple is hidden.

This forms the main body of the wreath, and can stand alone with no additional decoration, or with a simple ribbon if you wish.

Once the entire wreath is covered, add any decorations.  You can wire on fruit, Christmas ornaments, pine cones, seed pods, ribbons, leaves, flowers, or most anything else with floral wire, floral picks, or floral staples.  Light items can be hot glued onto the greenery.

After securing floral wire to the back of the wreath, begin stringing fruit for the garland.

I chose to make a garland of cranberries, kumquats, and hot chili peppers for this wreath.  To get this effect, secure one end of a piece of floral wire to the back of the wreath with a floral staple.  Not knowing how long a piece of wire I would need to do the entire wreath, I began with a piece about 4′ long, securing it to the same staple that already holds the loop for hanging.

Cranberries, Kumquats, and dried chilies strung on floral wire garland this wreath.

I put a second staple over the wire where I wanted my first cranberry to lay.  (There is no need to have fruit on the back of the wreath which could get crushed against the door.)

Straighten the wire as much as you can, especially at the very end, and then firmly push the end of the wire through the cranberry from end to end, with the wire exiting where the stem attached.  Push this first cranberry, gently, the length of the wire to rest against the staple.

Secure the wire to the back of the wreath at either end of the strung fruit.

String five or six more cranberries to cover the wire as it comes across the top of the wreath.  Use only very firm cranberries, discarding any already soft.  Where your garland comes across the face of the wreath string a Kumquat, followed by chilies, and then resume with the cranberries.  I strung more cranberries until the point where the wire passes to the back of the wreath, and secured the wire with a floral staple just behind the last berry.

Repeat this process, securing the wire at the top of the wreath before the first berry and at the inside bottom just after the last berry as you loop the garland around the wreath.  If you begin to run out of wire, tie the wire off to a staple on the back, and begin a new piece wrapped onto the same staple.  Finally, tie off the end of the final wrap of wire to a floral staple and secure it out of site inside the wreath.

The finished wreath is ready to hang.

This wreath will hang outside through the New Year.  I hope the fruit will stand up to such a long display.  It is important to use fresh, firm, fruit to get the longest life from the arrangement you can.

Wreathes are symbols of eternal life, abundance, and the turning year.  They are well loved in our holiday decorations, and so simple to make and personalize for ourselves.

A wreath from our own hand and our own garden reflects our own tastes and interests.  And, this wreath smells wonderful.  The deep spicy aromas of cedar and rosemary  blend beautifully with the citrus kumquats.

What a wonderful gift to make for your own family, or for a special loved one this holiday season.

Secure a loop of wire to the back of the wreath with a floral staple for hanging.

Cover the inside, front, and outside edges of the straw wreath with Magnolia leaves.

These greens soaked overnight in floral conditioner. You also need clippers to trim the pieces to the size needed for each bundle.

Floral wire, clippers, fruit and greens are all that is needed to make your wreath.

The final bunch is secured under the tip of the first bunch, and then the first bunch moved back to cover the staple.

The finished wreath hanging on our community center door.

This wreath could be hung as is, or with just a bow.

Nature has many scenes to exhibit, and constantly draws a curtain over this part or that.

She is constantly repainting the landscape and all surfaces, dressing up some scene for our entertainment.

Lately we had a leafy wilderness; now bare twigs begin to prevail, and soon she will surprise us with a mantle of snow.

Some green she thinks so good for our eyes that, like blue, she never banishes it entirely from our eyes, but has created evergreens. 

Henry David Thoreau, Nov. 8, 1858

All Photos by Woodland Gnome 2013

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Make a Wreath

Grapevine wreath decorated with Lotus pods, Deodor Cedar cones, moss, and local oyster and clam shells. Handmade by Woodland Gnome.

Do you have a wreath hanging on your front door?

Wreathes are very common in our area.  Almost everyone hangs wreathes during the winter holidays, but many have an assortment of wreathes to hang at different seasons of the year.

Colonial Williamsburg 2009

Wreathes date far back into our cultural history, beginning, like so many things, in the ancient Mediterranean world.  We know that in ancient Persia the wealthy and well born wore wreathes on their heads, often made from fabric  or gold, and decorated with precious stones.

The custom in ancient Greece was to make wreathes from Bay Laurel and other plant materials.  These were a symbol of achievement. Winners of athletic contests were honored with a wreath made of laurel.  Musicians, craftsmen, poets, and political leaders were also awarded with laurel wreathes for special achievements.  Many plants had associations with specific gods and goddesses of the Greek pantheon, and so wreathes made from these specific plants were believed to carry the special blessings of that deity.  Apollo was associated with laurel, Dionysus with ivy, and Zeus with oak.

Grapevine wreath decorated with moss, air plants, and a blown glass bluebird. By Woodland Gnome.

Wreathes migrated into Roman culture like so many things Greek, and became important symbols of wealth, achievement and status.  They were also used annually in the celebration of the holiday Saturnalia, which is where so many of our Yule and Christmas customs, such as bringing evergreen trees inside during the winter, originate.  Wreathes were both worn on the head, like a diadem, and also brought into the home as decoration.  Wreathes, and other evergreens, were used during the winter solstice celebrations for decoration inside and out.

Air plants on a grapevine wreath, by Woodland Gnome.

In fact, wreathes were made and enjoyed in most corners of the ancient world, including China.  The wreath is a universal symbol, whether made from laurel, ivy,  evergreen branches, holly, flowers, fabric, or precious metal.

The wreath was, and is, a symbol of the cyclic nature of our world.  It symbolizes the sun, the turning of the year, and the eternal turning of the planets around the sun.  The return of the sun after winter solstice was an important aspect of Saturnalia, and of the festivities celebrated by followers of the Persian Mithra during Dies Natalis of Sol Invictus, or the birthday of the unconquerable sun on December 25 of each year, just after the winter solstice.

The wreath, commonly made with evergreens, is a symbol of eternal life.  It is an assurance that, “life goes on” through good times and bad.  Although individuals come and go, life itself endures.  As the custom of wreath making spread into Europe with the Roman Empire.

Colonial Williamsburg 2009

Within the new faith of Christianity, wreathes were adapted to tabletop use for the season of Advent.  Candles were added to the wreath to mark each of the Sundays during Advent, with a candle in the middle for Christmas Day.  Families still make Advent wreathes and enjoy lighting them each night at the dinner table today.  The four outer candles anchor the four points of a cross, or the four cardinal points.  The center candle also symbolizes the central point from which all of creation originates.

Colonial Williamsburg, 2009

Harvest wreathes made with wheat also became common in Europe.  These were symbols of a rich harvest and abundance, and were left up as decoration for much of the year.  In summer, wreathes were often made and decorated with herbs, especially evergreen herbs such as rosemary and bay.

In medieval Europe wreathes were made which symbolized a particular family, to hang on their front door . They were used in place of house numbers to identify the family’s home.  Items were added to wreathes which were in some way symbolic of an individual or family.  These hung year round and were refreshed as needed.

Silk ivy and flowers on a grapevine wreath for Easter, 2011. Notice the nest built by our birds at the top.   Wreath by Woodland Gnome

Wreathes came with the early American colonists to Colonial Virginia.  Williamsburg has a rich tradition of wreath making for Christmas decoration.  Every building in Colonial Williamsburg is decorated with a beautifully hand made wreath.  Although evergreens such as pine, magnolia, cedar, and holly are often used, these unique wreathes are decorated with apples, oranges, peanuts, feathers, cotton, sea shells, nuts and berries, pineapples, and pomegranates.

Colonial Williamsburg 2009

They are symbols of abundance and well being.  Wreathes hung on the doors of businesses often include items symbolic of that business, such as pewter cups, pipes, and fabric.  These special wreathes are known as “della Robbia” style wreathes.

Colonial Williamsburg 2009

Many residents of Williamsburg, and in all of Virginia, follow this custom at home.  Although many of us still make or buy evergreen wreathes at Christmas, we also make everlasting wreathes with grape vines or straw, and decorate them with fruit, flowers, birds, small toys, shells, nuts, and cones.

This is a lovely custom, and so easy to do.  The wreathes I hung yesterday began as ready made grapevine wreathes purchased at a craft store.  I have made many grapevine wreathes over the years beginning with vines from wild grape and honeysuckle, but these were purchased.  If you have kudzu growing nearby it is also an excellent material for making the basic wreath.

Everything is hot glued onto a grapevine wreath.

Everything on  this wreath is hot glued into place.  There are Lotus pods, oyster shells, moss, and Deodora Cedar cones.  When I first made these wreathes a year ago, the lotus pods were too dark and heavy.  I gilded a few to brighten the wreathes and give a more festive look in the weeks before Christmas.  Grape vine makes it easy to tuck items in among the vines.  I could easily add Eucalyptus sprigs, feather, silk roses, or other items by weaving them into the wreath.  Many of the items had come loose by last spring, so I collected everything and stored it over summer.  Yesterday I re-glued and refreshed both wreathes so they are ready for another holiday season.

This finished evergreen wreath is ready to hang.

So if you have a wreath on your door, good for you.  You are welcoming the coming holidays from Thanksgiving through the New Year in festive spirit.  If you haven’t hung your wreath yet, perhaps you’ll consider making your own this year from items which speak to your own interests and sense of beauty.  If you have a garden, you might already have what you need close at hand.  All it takes is your own attention to what is growing nearby, and a little creativity, to craft a beautiful wreath for your own home and family this season.

Colonial Williamsburg 2009

All Photos by Woodland Gnome

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