Christmas Wreath

Christmas is slowly beginning to make an appearance in the Owl household... The decorations have come down from the loft, the tree has been bought, and a holly wreath has appeared on the front door thanks to Papa Owl!  He took some photos and has put together this guide to making your own wreath.

Stage 1  Cut yourself some leylandii and some holly from your garden.  It's good to get a mixture of ordinary and variegated holly to give some contrast in your wreath.  You will also need a wire florists ring, a ball of garden string, some florists red berries, florists wire, ribbon and a pair of secateurs.

Stage 2 Attach one end of your string to your wire ring.  Take a good handful of leylandii and tie it onto the ring.

Stage 3 Continue wrapping your first handful of leylandii until you there is about 4cm left.  Take another handful of leylandii, tuck the twiggy ends under your first bunch and carry on wrapping, keeping the string really nice and tight. 

Stage 4 Carry on doing this until you have completed your ring.  Tie the string off to the wire ring and cut.  Now take your secateurs and trim your wreath to get rid of any loose bits of leylandii sticking out.  Be careful not to cut your string.

Stage 5  Cut your holly into lengths of about 10cms at an angle.  You can now start to stick them into your wreath. 

Stage 6 Continue placing the various types of holly into your wreath, until you can no longer see the leylandii.  It is useful to look at your wreath from a distance to see how balanced it is.

Stage 7 It is best not to use natural holly berries as they can attract birds who will subsequently eat them and make a mess on your door!  The florists berries are easy to get hold of and don't lead to the same side effects!  Take a couple of berries and twist them together, wrap a piece of florists wire around them and use that to stick into the leylandii. 

Stage 8  Make yourself a bow with the ribbon.  There are many ways of doing this, let your imagination run free.  Again use the florists wire to attach to your wreath.

Stage 9  Make a loop out of the florists wire and attached to the back of your ring which can be used to hang your wreath from your door.

Many thanks to Papa Owl for kick starting our Christmas decorations off... really must get around to buying some presents soon!