Christmas wreaths

December 7th 2018

Every year I look at front doors and ooh and ahh at the wonderful door adornments, not without envy

Christmas door wreath

I must say.  I have tinkled with putting decorations up from crocheted door wreaths to tied bunches of foliage and occasionally to a bought floral wreath but never the decadent, looks like it wouldn't be out of place in Liberty's shop window wreath as I cannot bring myself to fork out the equivalent of a small fortune for something that was totally frivolous.  But I have yearned, oh, yes, I have yearned to have such an embellishemnt on my door.  This is such an English thing to do and not at all Scandinavian and I’m itching to get in on the game. Last year I toyed with joining in on a wreath making day course and by the time I decided I could spare the time and could justify the expense, after all, I would be learning...every course I tried to get on had either passed or was full up.  It was not meant to be...

So it was some weeks ago now that an acquaintance posted a photograph of an autumnal wreath they had made and would anyone like to have a go at making a Christmas one nearer the time, that I jumped at the chance.  Unfortunately for me the course fell on the day after my sister came to visit unexpectedly late one night and leaving early the next morning having only allowed me a mere three and a half hours sleep from all her chatting that I turned up to a quintessentially English Oxfordshire village, bleary-eyed and worse for wear not really sure what to expect.

I knew I was in with a good chance of being in the correct place when I spied a hand-tied floral bunch of eucalyptus, laurel and bronze sprayed greenery. I began to tingle with excitement...

Entrance to the wreath course

What I did not expect was to find this glorious old village hall, just as a village hall should be and would not look out of place in an Agatha Christe or Midsomer Murder episode and indeed did feature in the 2001 episode called Ring Out Your Dead.

North Stoke Village Hall

And from the moment I stepped past the gate nothing about the day disappointed, just look at the room and how it was laid out, a real treasure chest of foliage and embellishments and everything one could possibly wish to create a Christmas wreath.

All set up to learn how to create a wreath

Wreath making equipment

Foraged and bought foliage

Home dried orange slices for colour

Karan, the teacher, not a florist by trade but someone with a flair and passion for creating showed us the basic and then let us run wild.  She held us off from using colour, to begin with insisting we build up a full base of greenery, a mixture of ivy, eucalyptus, Scott's pine and the such, encouraging us to build it up to cover the oasis.  At this stage it seemed that more is definitely the key, this is where I would have gone wrong and would have skimped at this stage, so glad she gently insisted we kept adding.

Once we were happy with the shape of the wreath, it's symmetry and that all gaps were plugged we were let loose on her table of goodies and gosh did she have such a variety.  Making a wreath at home, one would never have the variety, nor would I have been as bold or as extravagant as I was.  A real lesson learnt actually that on some occasions it is OK, indeed preferable to go all out and decorate and add.

I had the most glorious of days and am now quite keen to try my hand at more floristry.  If Karan holds a Spring wreath course, I'll be the first to sign up.

A close up of my Christmas wreath

Under strict instructions to water the wreaths on arrival back home, I did just that and as soon as was possible hung it up on the front door.  For the first time in my life, I love my front dor in the run up to Christmas and I have Karan to thank for that.

Welcome to our home

I could not be more pleased with  my Christmas wreath

♥  How do you decorate your door for Christmas?  ♥