Homemade Wreath & White Mink

Written by xoamys

December 17th,

Yesterday we took a forest walk at our golf course and I decided to take advantage of the material in the woods to make a wreath back home. I picked lots of juniper branches that were filled with green and blue berries that make the most beautiful table decorations. The little gin tasting berries are golden in stews and pair elegantly with wild game. Juniper branches look beautiful with flowers for example with tulips and eucalyptus if you’re looking to make a festive bouquet.

I’ve got a new mink coat and it makes me feel like cinderella as it’s so warm and beautiful and overly cozy with the large lynx fur hood. I have to say this is my favourite fur because of the rare pale natural colour making it a one of a kind. With the fancy fur, I’ve dressed down into comfortable woolen sweats, uggs and a large knit and drinking english breakfast as we scavenger around the woods. I love taking in the beauty of the nature and we even captured a glimpse of a pink sky and saw some deer.

First thing bright and early this morning, I made myself some green tea and started with the wreath-making preparations. I gently played some christmas songs in the background as my hubby was still sound asleep and made smoked salmon cream cheese crackers to set the Christmas mood. This is what I call a cozy sunday morning!

How to make a larger wreath:

(you need: Scissors, thick and thin wire & leafy greens from forest such as juniper, lingonberry/blueberry twigs, pine branches, heather. You can also get eucalyptus from the florist)

/Begin by making the base

If you live in Scandinavia and have access to a forest, pick some blueberry branches as they are bendy and leafless this time of year and our forests are filled with them. They make the perfect circle without snapping in half.

1. Take a few branches and braid them into other to make a thicker “twig”, as you see in the below right picture. This image is taken from the backside of the base. The main stem has lots of little branches sticking out but you bend or twist them into each other as much as you can and sealing them together with the help of wire.

2. Make another thicker twig, as you did in step 1 and attach the two together into a circle tightening them with wire. This base is perfect for a bigger wreath but if you are making smaller ones, you only need to bend one twig into a circle. If you do not have access to blueberry branches, then use thick wire to make a circle.

/Little bouquets around the wreath

This is the fun visual step where you make the body for the wreath. You basically make little bouquets around the base of the wreath that again, are attached with the wire. I used a thinner wire to wrap the little bouquets and used the thicker wire to attach them to the base. See right picture below for a close up

The wreaths will last longer if you store them outside in damp air. I often store them on the balcony before taking them in for Christmas or closer to some festivities as this way they are more fresh. When kept inside, pine branches tend to be more brittle than lingonberry, that happens to be incredible durable.

1. Gather a small bunch of greens (such as lingonberry leaves, pine twigs, juniper twigs, heather) and seal the middle part with wire to make a little bouquet. Leave the twigs at the end as they make the wreaths base look thicker. Taking another piece of wire, wrap the little bouquet around the base. Repeat the process mixing the material you have. There is no rule to this, just keep playing around with the branches and see what you think looks good.

2. You can add ribbon to it if you please or make the body of the wreath more thin or thick depending on what style you are after. The simple dainty wreaths are typically modern Scandinavian but the thicker ones are timeless and classic. These wreaths look lovely hanging from the window/ door or laid flat as a centrepiece on the table with candles around it. Smaller wreaths look beautiful on gifts or utilized as napkin holders in a table setting.

On the left you can see part of the base made from blueberry branches and a half made wreath. Next to the wreath in both pictures you can see “the little bouquets” that you need to make that will then be attached to the base of the wreath with wire.