A California-Grown Holiday Wreath.
Detail of an edible/herbal-themed holiday wreath.
Thanks to some wonderful attention for Slowflowers.com in the media, I’ve been designing and writing and talking about American Grown Wreaths for the Holidays quite a bit lately.
Tonight, one of my friends asked: Isn’t that wreath-making how-to on a video?
And I said, “Not this time, but I’ll post the steps on my blog.” She’s getting ready for tomorrow’s Advent wreath-making party so I thought I’d get the instructions up quickly.
Here, you’ll find two of the DIY wreath how-to’s. I created the first for Chris Ross, Home & Garden editor for the San Diego Union-Tribune daily. “From Harvest to Holiday” appears in today’s newspaper and features ingredients grown near San Diego by Resendiz Brothers Protea Farms. Thanks to Diana Roy and Mel Resendiz for sending me the flowers and foliage to play with!!!
Getting Started
Do-it-yourself wreath-making is as easy as placing flowers in a vase. Start with a walk through your neighborhood to gather “gifts” from nature, especially downed branches, autumn leaves, conifers and dried flowers (note: always wild-gather or forage with permission and never on public land).
Get your supplies in order: Wreath forms, bindwire or twine, clippers, snips, floral wire and ribbon.
1. Get your supplies in order. I bought the wreath forms at Michael’s, but you can also find metal and grapevine wreath bases at most floral and craft supply outlets. Choose your wreath base. For this design, I worked with a 15-inch round frame.
The floral elements and accents, including from left: Pink Protea, Brunia albiflora, Leucadendron and Creamy White Protea
The foliage elements, including from left: Banksia, Eucalyptus, Acadia, Grevillea, and more.
2. Gather flowers and foliage: As you gather branches, foliage and other elements, clean away debris and trim away broken parts. Lay out pieces on sheets of newspaper and allow them to partially dry (this helps reduce mildew). Plan for twice as much as you think you’ll need. You want your wreath to look rounded and dense rather than thin and flat so make sure you have plenty of material.
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