Making a Christmas Wreath

I like my wreaths to start off a little wild, this is the wreath before I added in the fruit and other bits an bobs

I just love making these wreaths. I love a bit of a wild natural look so I fill them with anything I can find in my own garden and in hedgerows.  I also check supermarkets for reduced fruits like cumquats, chillies, and cranberries and will add to it over the festive season.

This will be a messy job so prepare the surface with newspaper before you start!

You will need:

• One wire wreath, about a pound from florists.

• Florist wire lengths and a roll of wire.

• Soft branches from a tree like silver birch

• Green foliage foraged from your garden or a hedgerow. Look for ever green but steer clear of the traditional pine trees, I think they are dark and morbid.
  A bag of moss

• Chillies oranges, cranberries, cinnamon.

• Ivy, rosemary, lavender, bay, eucalyptus, geranium

• Raffia or garden string

• Short lengths of wire folded over to use as ‘hairpins’

1. Lay the wire wreath on the table, place the moss evenly on top and wrap with florist’s wire or string to hold it in place.

2. Place the soft branches on the wreath and wire them in, don’t be too tidy we like them to hang over the edge.

3. Wrap the ribbon around the top of the wreath to hang it up later.

4. Wrap the long lengths of ivy round the wreath, tuck in the ends. 

5. The tough stemmed plants can be pushed directly into the moss, put them in at 12, 4 and 8 o’clock. The soft stemmed plants bundle together wrap with wire and either push them in or wire then in. Fill in the gaps between 12, 4, and 8.  Cram everything green and silver in .

6. Using the florist wire, prepare the fruit.  Push the wire into the middle of the orange fold the wire in half and twist, do the same with three chillies and any other fruits.  Wrap three cinnamon together with ribbon or raffia. Attach a piece of wire to the cinnamon.

7. Make a little coloured cluster at 10, 2, 6 o’clock on the wreath, push the fruits into the wreath and fold over on the wrong side. Push in any coloured berries

8. Hang up the wreath and stand back to check it looks circular and your foliage is equal. Add more or tidy up if necessary.

Download instructions for Mandy Christmas Wreath here