How to Make a Wreath

Hello from Late Spring

1. Acquire a wreath form frame. I bought this 2-pack for $10 and used one as a gift for my brother and sister-in-law from their dried wedding flowers.

2. Acquire wreath material. Bring some pruners along on a walk and snip a basket of items that catch the eye. I gathered my latest on a chilly Chesapeake Bay beach day.

3. Layout materials in groupings of like structure - the pine needles with the pine needles, the eucalyptus with the eucalyptus, etc.

   

4. Weave items into the frame. I like to start with a thin, bendy plant that I have lots of because this covers the wireframe without filling all of the gaps.

   

5. Layout eye-catching items and continue weaving. Trust the process!

   

6. Create some movement to the design with distinctive pieces pointing clock-wise.

   

7. Hang on the wall to add your final touches. The highlight of this late-spring wreath is a robin’s nest that was built on top of a ladder we keep on the back porch. Robins do not reuse or return to their nests, so it felt right to incorporate that mama’s hard work into this sign of Spring at our doorway.

   

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I made my first wreath in June 2022 while we were living at an off-grid eco-retreat in Panama. I was looking for ways to honor the summer solstice and had read that the practice of wreath-making goes back farther than we know. The practice of weaving evergreens into a circular form around Christmastime goes back until at least the Middle Ages. There are many meanings behind wreaths. The circular nature of life is one that resonates with me.

My first wreath was made without a frame by looping together hibiscus branches. A day later, it bloomed.

Past season’s wreaths:

Autumn Goldenrod, early winter evergreens, and scraggly late winter and early spring.