Frugal Xmas Wreath Making

Wednesday this week was the day that I decided to finally get around to making my first Xmas wreath. I don't think I've made one before, but I've always wanted to try. I was a bit anxious about it to be honest, but it needed doing as I'd collected some greenery on Monday and it had been sat in water for two days.

The materials were mostly foraged or from the garden or allotment, so I didn't need to buy anything. I already had a wicker wreath ring, which I'd bought last year in January for £2. I also had some dried slices of orange that I'd bought from Lidl a couple of years ago, which I think I paid £1.99 for, but hadn't yet got around to using. I only used 5 of these which constituted about one third of the pack. The only other thing I bought was a gold seedhead from the charity shop for 20p.

The greenery I used included fir branches that I got free from the Xmas tree shop, bay sprigs that I cut off my bay tree in the garden, rosemary harvested from the allotment and ivy from the front wall. I also foraged some ivy berries and some berryless holly on my walk and that got added too.

I didn't find it that easy to wedge the greenery into the wicker ring, but with a bit of effort I managed to get everything in relatively securely. It's a bit of a wild and straggly wreath, but I quite like that as it seems to make it more authentically homemade to me. Here's a couple of pictures of some of the greenery I included:

After making it, I ran it under the tap to douse it with water to help keep it fresh and then hung it on the front door. I'm really happy with it and really like it for a first attempt. I just hope it doesn't disappear.

There were a few small bits of greenery left over, so I made a hanging garland with them. I'm not sure where I'm going to hang it yet, but waste not want not.

Then there was only the cleaning up to do, as I made quite a mess:

I really enjoyed the whole process, from the foraging/gathering of materials, to making up the wreath itself. I will definitely do this again at some point. Do you make your own Xmas wreath?