A handmade Christmas wreath

Got a last minute addition to your gift list, or want to add an extra festive touch to your home this year? Instead of rushing out to crowded big box stores, consider making a unique wreath by hand. This delightful wreath can be made using natural bits and pieces from the garden. It’s both easy to make, and impressive to receive.

Step 1:

Get your snips and fossick in the garden or forage in your neighborhood. You’re looking for some good hardy but flexible materials for the base of your wreath, such as pittosporum branches, wisteria, flax or willow, plus decorative bits to add colour, like flowers, toetoe tufts and non toxic berries. If you have time before you make your wreath, let your foliage dry a little to avoid shedding petals and leaves while you’re crafting.

Step 2:

Either use a pre-made crafting ring (these can be purchased from aforementioned big box stores) or make one using wire or plastic piping pulled into a circle. You can also form one out of your branches with a bit of patience and fiddling, or even plait one from thin pieces of flax and then pull it into a circular shape and join the ends together with wire. This will be the base for your wreath, allowing you to wind your decorative strands through easily.

Step 3:

Start weaving and twisting your branches, flowers and cuttings around and through the circular base. There is really no right or wrong way to do this - and much of it depends on what you have available. Old pieces of ribbon can look great and so can good quality fake flowers, if you have some handy. A hot glue gun or some thin florist’s wire can be useful here to make sure your bits stay in place.

Step 4:

Embellish to your heart’s content! Add glitter, go for some gilding, generally have some fun with it! You could even spray paint the entire wreath a singular colour to fit your festive theme. We used some juicy red flax flowers to add a touch of New Zealand summer to ours but you could also attach candy canes or old Christmas ornaments if you so wish. Your wreath won’t look like a bought one - and that’s the whole point! Whether you want to make a statement that will be a talking point for visitors, or give a gift with homemade love, there’s no limit to the options - so get crafting!