Handmade Wreath

I love making things at Christmas- in the last few years I have either bought or modified a wreath for the front door (like last years supermarket offering), but this year I thought I would go one step further and put together my own wreath!!

 I have been collecting pine cones for several weeks, saving nice ones I've come across in gardens or walking to and fro. In Hobbycraft I picked up the woven ring as the base of my wreath along with a little bag of bells. The spiky green foliage and the brown super spiky plant with cones on came from Sheffield Park (nothing was picked from the trees, it was all picked up from the floor), and the Ivy and Rosemary came from the garden. The ribbon was one I had lying around.

I wasn't entirely sure how to securely attach all of the pieces so stuck with what I knew best, tucking in the foliage stems and then stitching and tying from the back for extra security. Once all of the green bits were in place, I then wrapped thread around the base of the cones, pulling it under the 'scales' of the cone to secure it, then stitching through the wreath base and tying off the two ends. The bells were put on in a similar way.

To finish I made a bow at one end of the ribbon, stitching in down then wrapping it round the top of the wreath until I reached the other side where I made another bow and stitched that as well.

I'm so chuffed with this little wreath!! It's a little wonky and has too much ivy on one side but it smells delicious and now it's on the front door the little bells jangle when the door opens and closes.

We don't have the right sort of door for a wreath really, there is nothing to hang it off and we can't stick anything at the top as the door won't close. Our solution is to thread string through the letterbox and tie it all on. Hopefully anyone who knocks on the door will be impressed!

After all of that exertion, I treated myself to a very pretty gingerbread tree bought at the Winter Fair. It was very very yummy!