12 Days of Christmas: Day 2 - Wreath

Hi everyone,

I have never made a Christmas wreath before but this was so much fun and if you have any children about they will love to help out with this one as well. Make sure you and any helpers wear some gloves as this is prickly work.

So get some branches and. . . . Happy Christmas

Fine and thick wire

Scissors

Ribbon

Fresh foliage (fir sprigs, berries etc)

Dried foliage (pine cones, acorns)

Spray bottle

To make the frame I used a thick bendable wire which I looped round a few times and then twisted the ends around the frame to secure it.

You will need to make about 15-20 fir bunches. To do this you will need to select good clean, fresh fir sprigs, try not to use wet or mouldy pieces these could effect the lasting time and appearance of the finished product.

I decided to wrap some vines and lurch branches around the frame before I attached the fir.

You will need about 3 springs for each bunch, they can be anywhere between 5-10cm in length, wind a piece of wire around them at the base of the stem to hold them together.

Attach each one to the frame with a piece of wire wrapping around the base of the bunch and around the frame. Wrap them so that they are all facing the same way. Overlap each bunch with the next so the entire frame is covered.

Trim the remaining foliage and arrange around the fir bunches until you are happy with the way it looks then secure each piece in place.

Then using the ribbon or hook attach at the top of the wreath and hang it up, you can add a few drops of fragrance oil if you want to or leave it as it is. I decided to add some dried oranges to mine to bring in a bit of colour. To do this I put orange slices on a wire rack and placed into the oven for about 20 minutes at 160°C.

You will need to spritz it with water regularly (morning and night) to keep it fresh.

I hope you had fun making or just having a read at this. Don't forget to check out my other blogs and keep checking back for more instalments in the 12 blogs of christmas. If you do decide to recreate this or any of my other crafts or baking blogs I would love to see them so tag me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

Emma

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