Christmas wreaths are an old tradition, hung outside the house – usually on the front door – to give visitors a festive greeting.
To make one you need a wreath ring, florist’s wire (both available cheaply from a local florist) and some greenery.
Foraging the greenery
Take a walk around your local park or garden and look for evergreen material. Holly, ivy, pine, spruce, fir, laurel and eucalyptus all work.
Mix textures rather than using one kind. A wreath of a single greenery reads as flat; two or three different leaf shapes give it depth.
Cut more than you think you need – roughly twice as much. Wreaths absorb an astonishing quantity of material.
Only cut from your own garden or where you have permission, and take a little from many plants rather than stripping one.
Building it
Bind moss or a base layer to the ring first if you are using a wire frame, to give the stems something to grip.
Make small bunches. Three or four stems of mixed greenery, bound at the base with wire. This is the key to a full wreath – attaching individual stems gives a sparse result.
Lay each bunch on the ring so it covers the bound stems of the previous one, and wire it down. Work in one direction all the way round.
Keep the angle consistent. Every bunch should point the same way round the circle. This is what makes a wreath look deliberate rather than assembled.
Tuck the last bunch under the first to hide the join.
Decoration
Add after the greenery is complete: pine cones, dried orange slices, cinnamon sticks, berries, ribbon.
Odd numbers, unevenly spaced, look better than a regular ring of identical items. A single large bow at the bottom or at one side is a classic for good reason.
Wire decorations on rather than gluing them, so the wreath can be composted at the end and the decorations kept.
Making it last
A fresh wreath on an outside door in cold weather will last several weeks. Indoors, in central heating, it will dry out in days.
Mist it with water every few days if it is inside.
Holly berries drop as they dry; if the wreath needs to look good on a particular date, add those late.
Hanging it
A wreath hanger over the door, or a loop of ribbon over a hook. Both are better than a nail, and the ribbon can match your decoration.
