If you've been reading this blog for any length of time you know I love to make wreaths. Wreaths made with
"non-traditional" plant material,
wreaths from handmade paper flowers, and good
old fashioned conifer based wreaths. Since I also love a
vintage aluminum Christmas tree, it's only natural that I would have made a wreath from aluminum Christmas tree branches...
What's odd is that I made this wreath to hang over the fireplace at my house in Spokane, and I packed it up and moved it all the way to Portland, but I've never (that I remember) displayed it here, in this house—that we've lived in since 2005. That is until now. It's currently hanging on the wall above our bed. I wasn't sure if Andrew would like it as much as I do, but as he was pouring his first cup of coffee the day after I put it up he dared me to "Instagram it" with the unmade bed, cause it just looked so cozy. I took that as a stamp of approval and wasted no time in posting the photo.
Another sparkly wreath, but this one has been in pretty constant rotation since I bought it back in, 2007 or 2008? It's just so easy to tuck in just about anywhere. It's also, obviously, not made by me.
This little mahonia wreath is hanging on our fireplace surround. It's made of Mahonia x media 'Marvel' leaves and intentionally a little random and free-form.
I had a small metal wreath frame and just wove ribbon around it to hold the leaves in place.
If you've got an eye for detail you may have already spotted the door wreath reflected in the mirror next to the "sparkly wreath"...
I made it after being inspired by this metal wreath at
Terrain,
a stop during the Philly Fling.
The Terrain wreath was made of metal, but since I'd also kept this bit of paper-wreath inspiration for years (which it looks like can be traced to
here, although I'm sure that's not where I saw it), I thought why not try something with paper?
I drew a few leaf shapes...
...and then cut them out of heavy cardstock paper, folding and bending them a bit to resemble actual leaves, not just pieces of paper.
I then taped them to a wire wreath form. It was so easy!
A close-up of the finished product.
There was also a pretty fabulous garland on display at Terrain and I toyed with the idea of doing something similar—from paper—for the holiday mantel, but decided against it. I wanted to use some of my traditional holiday decorations and if done right this garland was really more of a stand alone piece. I might revisit it in the future...
For now I'm loving the modern simplicity of this wreath.
It's the perfect accompaniment to the JOY doormat my friend Erin gave me.
Are you in wreath making mode?
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All material © 2009-2023 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
Whoa, those are really great. I especially love the mahonia wreath. You've made this look very doable. The last wreath I made was some Martha Stewart concoction with velvet, rubber stamps, an iron and a hot glue gun. I have no idea where that wreath has gotten off to?
ReplyDelete"Martha Stewart concoction"... ha! Well said. Simple is definitely better in this busy times.
DeleteI always admire your creativity. So many beautiful wreaths. How difficult was it to make the aluminum wreath? My only foray into wreath making used very sharp blue spruce cuttings. Beautiful when finished but I felt like I'd been used as a pincushion and it was so heavy I couldn't hang it on the front door. The paper one looks very stylish and perfect. Will give it a try. Thanks for the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteI have to be honest, it was more than 20 years ago (!!!) that I made the aluminum wreath, I have no memory of how it went together. I do remember a kind friend/coworker who was an antique dealer gave me a big bag of branches to work with. I'd love to see what you come up with!
Deletethose all look great! Very "Instagrammy".
ReplyDeleteMe do a wreath? Bwaahaahaha!
Ah, come on! You've got so much fabulous material to work with!
DeleteI'm not in wreath-making mode, but I love seeing what you do with wreath-making materials. They look great!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI'm in the middle of making a wreath from scavenged hydrangea flowers which turn the most amazing deep turquoise and bruised purples -- not exactly holiday colors but too good to pass up. Picked up a wreath frame at the Restore/Habitat for Humanity. Making wreaths and garlands is cold weather comfort along with lots of tea, books and candles! I should try a paper leaf wreath with Hannah, thanks for the inspo. She picked up old Euphorb stygiana leaves today calling them "boats" so she definitely is a fan of leaves.
ReplyDeleteHydrangea wreaths are so fun to make. My neighbors plants have turned a fabulous antique sort of tea stained color, they'd make a great wreath. I've been thinking of you, with all the news of flooding in the Tillamook area. I hope you and yours are staying high and dry! If you do make a paper wreath with Hannah please share a photo!
DeleteYou say making the paper wreath was easy. For you maybe! I think I'll try to make one myself to show you how inept I am at these things :-).
ReplyDeleteYES! I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised.
DeleteI love all your wreaths, as well as the inspiration pieces you've shown here. I (momentarily) considered making a wreath yesterday but I wasn't feeling inspired - In fact, I'm just happy that I got the Christmas tree decorated over the weekend. The holidays have kind of snuck up on me this year.
ReplyDeleteMaybe an "after Christmas" wreath is in your future?
DeleteI'm thinking about making a wreath... I reviewed the links to your previous wreaths: I'll use this post to motivate myself. I'm glad you took up Andrew on his Instagram challenge, it's a great photo.
ReplyDeleteChavli
He couldn't believe that I did it, posting a photo of our unmade bed. Ha. I hope you do making one, and have fun doing it!
DeleteThese are definitely some of the best wreaths I've seen anywhere. I want the first one you made and the gray one in the next pix. With a gray bathroom, bedroom and office, we could certainly use them.
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda, "best" is high praise....
DeleteI especially love the small metal wreath frame that you wove ribbon around to hold the leaves in place and your front door wreath too!
ReplyDeleteThanks Nancy! I am currently scheming on other plants I can give that same ribbon-weaving treatment to. Wreaths don't have to be just for the holidays!
DeleteI know what you were doing on one of those days it rained a bucket and a half! I have some crafting projects, but they'll have to wait for January! Almost here. I do wonder if dried, pressed leaves will curl once they are exposed to the real world environment again. May have to go buy some hairspray or some other spray fixative.
ReplyDeleteI was worried the paper leaves would not react well to the moisture out on the front door, especially sandwiched between the wood and glass, but so far so good.
DeleteLovely -- especially the mahonia and the paper one. I'd love to know how the ribbon really wrapped around those leaves -- were they in pairs with a solid joint? Our garden club has a greens party for wreath making every year. Here's a link to our newsletter where you can see a couple of pages of the creators with their wreaths -- very different style -- equal JOY! I'm the one in the tree headband! https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=rm&ogbl#inbox/FMfcgzGwJSJDRRHlzsfjnkvNVxZXtVzl
ReplyDeleteYes, the close up photo shows the main stem with the ribbon weaving thru. I'd love to see the newsletter photos you reference, but the link is to gmail and doesn't work.
Delete