Monday, November 26, 2012

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.

9 comments:

  1. Hopefully they'll last longer for you being displayed outside! My wreaths are always shedding needles like crazy by Christmas when I make them inside the first week of Dec. Beautiful job Abby! :)

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  2. They look lovely, what a great thing to make yourselves. Definately one I've wanted to try myself, perhaps this year! x

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  3. Beautiful...wish I could smell it :) What a lovely tradition to begin..assembling your own Christmas wreath...things from God's creation...lovely indeed. I always gather greenery a couple of weeks before Christmas day and place it through out my home,but no wonderful balsam in my neck of the woods :( Blessings friend

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  4. You all did a lovely job! I love Abby's wreath. My mom used to make wreaths and I remember what a time-consuming task it is.

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  5. They look great. You make a good point about the value of time and labour.

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  6. How wonderful! This is a craft I've always wanted to try, too.

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  7. As always food for thought, you are right about time and pricing and it applies to so many things doesn't it? I'll be looking for locally made or have a go a doing it myself this year : )

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  8. Abby did a fabulous job. Really lovely!

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  9. She did a wonderful job! What a great skill to have.

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