As December approaches we decorate our door with a Christmas Wreath, so colorful and welcoming.
The tradition of creating the Wreath from the branches of evergreens and variety of pines and firs goes deep into our history. Early Romans used it as a symbol of victory, health and vigor for friends and family. Eventually, put into a circular shape the wreath became a Christian Symbol and emblem of perfection and unity, warm, enduring sun and ultimate triumph of life. The Wreath hang on the door is an invitation to the Christmas spirit to enter and bring luck to the home. It became a decorative element as well, outlet for creativity and self-expression. With all this in mind we decided to try out creative hands in wreath making. Here are the simple instructions for you, so you can make your own.
All material that we use we collected in our backyard and the nearby park – various evergreens’ branches, other branches with some berries, dry grasses and flowers… May be you can find other types – all will be good! The first thing to do when you bring all that material home is to carefully sort it. Cut pieces to the length between 5″ to about 7″ and arrange them into small bouquets. I use the nylon string used for fishing rods. Make sure there is a good variety and mix or colour and length in each bouquet – see images below:
You will need the base for your wreath – recycle the old one, or make one, as I did, from couple long branches and tape.
When your bouquets are ready arrange them in a circle, same way you would do it on the base. Make sure you overlap them by covering the branch part of the previous bouquet – this way you’ll make sure that the wreath looks balanced and the elements are spread out evenly.
Using the pliers and some flex wire (I have the wire used to make necklaces) I attached the bouquets to the base. Create the overlap – the last one covers the bottom part of the previous one. The challenge is to make sure your bouquets are evenly spread out on the base, so you are not running short at the end. The last bouquet goes under the top of the very first, this way all your bouquets are nicely arranged in a perfect circle.
Large or small, simple or elaborate, the wreath carries many positive messages and meaning of Christmas!