A new wreath too...

In my last post I wrote about the new mantel for the New Year, well there's a new wreath too...

I'd grown rather attached to the aluminum Christmas tree wreath that hung on the wall behind our bed for the entire month of December. When I took it down the whole bedroom looked empty without it. I thought about buying a big grapevine wreath but hesitated, feeling like that just wasn't the right fit. I knew there had to be a better idea and one morning while laying in bed staring at the ceiling fixture I realized what it was.

Metal! Isn't that always the right answer? Bonus points if it's either shiny metal, or metal with a great patina, like my bedside lamp.

Aha! A friend had dropped by a couple of wine barrel rings last fall, one of them quite large. The perfect size to hang on the wall behind the bed...

Obviously it need a little spicing up, aka plants! I used various protea stems, a banksia bloom, leucadendron, leucospermum and mahonia—all dried, leftovers from the holiday decor.

The color isn't nearly as vivid when the flowers are dried, but it still remains—and the texture is unbeatable.

In case you're the practical type—like my husband—and look at this photo and worry about an earthquake, (we're overdue), and a ring of metal falling from the wall, and hitting us while we're sleeping; worry not. It's firmly wired to the nail it's hanging from which is in a stud in the wall.

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All material © 2009-2024 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Holiday wreaths, 2023 style...

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.

We made wreaths—at Rancho Cistus

Saturday afternoon I retuned to the scene of several past wreath making parties to have a go at it again. There have been years where Ann Amato and I cut greens from the garden in the rain with Sean Hogan and Preston Pew, but this year we arrived to piles of interesting things in the driveway ready for the making.

My friend Bridget (OMG, I haven't shared the news here but Bridget who used to live around the corner from me, then moved to Louisville and started a business called Mahonia is back in Portland and is now the Director of Operations at Cistus!!!) kicked things off with a little talk on the "how to" of wreath making and then we all started grabbing stems from the selection in the drive. Just then hundreds of geese flew overhead, I was not the only one who lifted my phone to record the moment, it was pretty majestic.

But back to the wreath making. I failed to get any shots of  Bridget giving us direction and a pep talk, but I did get a few shots of people in action and after pics. It's so inspiring to see what we each came up, since we all had the same things to choose from.

Dan Pogust at work here, one of the co-founders of the Portland Botanic Garden

Ann with her arborvitae wreath.

Evan Bean and Linda Wisner (in the background) hard at work.

Evan was smart to turn the needles of this conifer upside down for maximum contrast and to show off their silvery bits.

Bob made a spectacular eucalyptus wreath.

Evan proudly showing off Franklin—A(wreath)a Franklin that is. Yes, they're pretty darn punny. Giving Sean a run for his money.

Ann with her bodacious buxom beauty wreath (buxus/boxwood that is).

I didn't think to take photos of my two wreaths until I already had them in the car. Wreath A...

A, again

And at home...

I hung this one and stood back so Andrew could see it and his response, "so that bare wire, that's intentional?"... yep.

And wreath B...

This one is still laying on the basement floor, pending the official holiday decorating spree to come...

Since there was still a little daylight after the wreathing I walked through the nursery.

I think this grapevine and lichen wreath might have been one of my favorites of the day!

Seen in the Cistus big-top...

And here's Ann, closing out the day with suitably twee Kinfolk-like cover pose. Work it Ann!

All material © 2009-2022 by Loree L Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

The first wreath of the season

It's that time of the year, when photos of fresh protea wreaths start popping up all over the internet. I swoon, then my DIY attitude kicks in and I remember and there's no way I'm going to drop a C-note or more on a wreath. However my collection of dried protea flowers was getting a little out of hand...

As is my tillandsia collection. Hmmm. So I took down the protea and moved up a few tillandsia.

After grabbing a few other dried protea blooms from around the house, this is the inventory I came up with.

The large flowers and delicate ferns along the top row went back into a couple of vases, but the rest were sorted for size/style and then I made bundles, using the blooms and fresh greens that I'd purchased for this project.

There are a few ginger blooms—alpinia purpurata I believe—in there too.

Wreath making tip: save little pieces like these. Once you hang the wreath there will be a few spots that need extra filling. Just tuck them in.

As I worked this was my view out the front door. Colorful! Oh and those stems you can see in the bucket. I didn't use them. They're awaiting use in the next wreath I make, more of a Christmas theme.

Almost done...

Tada!

It's not as luscious or colorful as the protea wreaths featuring newly cut blooms, but I love it just the same.

I had every intention of putting this on the outside of our front door, like the last dried protea wreath I made. But once I was done I realized it was too thick to fit between the wood door and the glass security door.

Oh well! I can see it better on the inside anyway. This way I get to enjoy the furry petals.

As well as the other textures and colors.

Working on Monday's blog post it occurred to me just how predicable I am in my need to create. Can't make things (circles) to hang on the fence in the garden? Then make wreaths (circles) to hang indoors instead! 

I hope all of my American readers have a lovely Thanksgiving tomorrow!

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All material © 2009-2022 by Loree L Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.