We Need A Little Christmas

Last December, Daniel and I took a trip to Colonial Williamsburg. The place was all decked out for Christmas, and it was really fun to walk around and see all the decorations, which were handmade out of all natural materials--tree branches, fruit, flowers, etc. Here are some examples:

While we were there, we attended a wreath-making workshop at the historical museum. This year, we decided to try to put our untested wreath-making skills to use.

Daniel gathered the necessities:
- a couple of fake wreaths, needed for their wire frames
- several bunches of different tree cuttings from the local garden center
- florist wire
- florist tape
- a bag of cinnamon pieces and pinecones
- assorted fruit

I supplied some pliers/wirecutters, and we were off.
The first step was removing the fake wreaths from their wire frames. Then, we attached individual branches to the wire frames using the florist wire, and then added on the final decorative touches at the end. The process is easier to see using pictures:

Scout inspects the back of the fake wreath. The wire frame seen here provided the frame for our wreaths.

Some of the clippings. We used red cedar and fir for the wreaths' bodies.

My wreath in the beginning. It looks best if you start at one point on the wreath and go around all the way in the same direction. This hides the ends of your branches.

Using florist wire to attach a branch to the metal frame.

My wreath once I got all the red cedar branches on!

Then I attached some of these small decorative branches with the yellow tips.

I also added on a few fir branches.

And finally, some pinecones and cinnamon stick bits, all attached with the wire.

The final product!!!

Here it is hanging up outside!

Daniel's wreath - he used fir for the body and then added on apples, oranges, and some little red faux cranberry-ish balls, as well as little pinecones on the piece hanging down. Again, everything attached with wire. He used the green florist tape to wrap the ends of the branches so they would be better disguised. Looks great!


We were actually quite skeptical of the whole process before starting out. At one point early on, Daniel whispered to me, "I have no idea what I'm doing." Well, I didn't either. I think the real key is getting enough of a base built up so it looks beefy and hides the frame and the individual ends of all the branches. This can be time-consuming, though, since you're basically building the wreath one branch at a time. I think the entire process probably took us about 4-5 hours, spread over two nights. We are quite pleased with ourselves! It's going to be a new yearly Christmas tradition. Stay tuned to see what we do with all the leftovers.