By Dee Archibald
I love the idea of a Scandi inspired Christmas, natural and lush with not a hint of tinsel. Nothing is more welcoming than a wreath on your front door, whip this one up and your one step closer to planning that Christmas lunch!
You will need:
- Some pliable branches. Willow and vines work well, but anything can be used as long as it’s pliable and doesn’t snap when bent. I used some pittosporum that had been cut from a bush and left it a week or two until it dropped its leaves. Check what trees are around in your garden before heading out to the florist to purchase some.
- A branch of artificial leaves and a stem of berries from our silk flower selection in store.
- A glue gun with glue sticks.
- Some wire. Preferably green or brown florist wire, but string can work if you can get your hands on any.
Step 1
Gather half of your branches together, layering them on top of each other until it’s around a metre long. Make it slightly longer if you would like a bigger wreath (a metre will give a wreath of about 30cm – 35cms in diameter). Make sure the thickness is fairly even the whole way down. Secure them tightly in 3 – 4 places with your wire/string.
Step 2
Bend both ends around until they meet, overlap them then bind together with the wire the hold in place. You should now have a circle. Use the remaining pieces one at a time by inserting the end of each twig into where the wire holds the stems and twist it around the branch
frame. Start your next one before the end of the first so that each twig is holding the last one on and in turn giving a strong overall structure. It is up to you at this stage whether you want to remove the wire or keep it to make it more secure. I would suggest removing it if it is really noticeable and doesn’t blend with the twigs.
Step 3
Heat up your glue gun and then cut little bunches of leaves and berries from the artificial stems.
Squeeze a blob of glue onto the end of each bunch and push it through the wreath base until it meets with a place to stick to. It would be easiest to start with your leaves and add the berries last. I only added my leaves to around a third of the base so the rustic frame can be shown off too. I hung mine with a red and white bakers twine.
Tip!! Make sure the leaves and berries go in the same direction only changing direction at the end of your grouping to give a focal point which should be somewhere near the bottom of your wreath. You may like to add a little something extra here to make this focal point stand out more. Pine cones might be a nice Christmassy touch!!
Happy Crafting!!
