Wreath Making

I was excited when a friend offered to come spend the afternoon with us teaching us how to make Christmas wreaths.  In the past, I have generally made swags with cuttings I could find on a walk and would add pine cones or bark or other bits of found things.  These swags were just fine, but yes, I was very excited to learn a new craft.

With wire bases and wire spools, balsam we cut from our woods, red pine cones gathered from a neighbor's land, and some ribbon and dried flowers that Lisa had left over from when she made and sold wreaths, we spread out over our living and dining area.

I was surprised how much greenery it took to make just three wreaths.

Also, it took quite a lot of time.  There is the gathering, trimming, wrapping the wire around each small bouquet as it is attached to the wire, bow making, wrapping pine cones and then adding any other decoration.

If you end up buying a wreath, remember all of the time that it truly does take and see if you can find someone who makes them his/herself.  I can only imagine that a $12.00 wreath is not made in the best of circumstances.  (That the maker may not be getting a fair wage, for example.)

Abby, our 12 year old did a beautiful job with her wreath.  

We are happy to make this the start of a new tradition - wreath making the Saturday after Thanksgiving.