Traditional Holly Wreath
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| Make your own Festive Holly
Wreath. This project steps you through the assembly
process of creating a personalised holly wreath that will
last for ages, and with it's construction techniques will
allow it to weather the storms of winter. |
 | Requirements.
 | 8, 10 or 12 inch Holly Ring |
| Rose wire or Reel wire |
| Green Twine |
| Straw or Newspaper. |
| Holly |
| Wire cutters / pruners |
| Garden Gloves. |
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| Additional items
| Cypress, Ivy, Box, Mistletoe. |
| Silk or Plastic Flowers |
| Florist Ribbon |
| Fir Cones |
| Fruits |
| Cinnamon Sticks |
| Plastic Berries |
| Christmas Decorations
 | Cherubs |
| Angels etc |
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| Step One
| Choice of Holly Wreath Ring size. |
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The Holly wreath rings are available in 8, 10
and 12 inch sizes. This dimension refers to the size of the
ring. The completed wreath will be between 4 and 6 larger than
the base ring depending on how thickly you the holly. A standard
size wreath is made on an 8 inch ring. A 12 inch ring will make
a large wreath for a large front door.
| Step Two
| Covering your wreath ring. |
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We have chosen to use a base of straw (hay),
you should be able to acquire some from a neighbourhood farmer
or equestrian centre. If you have no access to straw, you can
use either newsprint or kitchen roll.
Take a handful of straw and shape it round
your ring, while binding it to the ring using a strong binding
twine. If using newsprint or other paper, scrunch and twist
several sheets together then shape and bind to the wreath ring
using the twine. You may also use Moss to wrap your wreath ring.
Moss can be purchased at a good garden centre. Finish off by
cutting away lose straw etc. If you intend using your wreath as
a table decoration etc, you may wish to isolate the straw, or
paper by wrapping strips of cling film around the covered ring. |
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A
useful aid to wreath making, are skaters knee pads. Strapped to
the inner side of the knees they act as a protective shield when
binding the clusters to the wreath ring. |
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| Step Three
| Preparing your holly sprigs for binding |
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Cut sprigs of holly, cypress, mistletoe etc.
Spring should be between 4 and 10 inches long. The longer the
sprigs the larger your completed wreath will be. A good
selection would be a large spring with berries, a piece of
cypress a piece of plain holly and a small piece of variegated
holly
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| Collect the sprigs for your cluster and
bind together close to the base with reel wire or rose
wire. Leave a 1 inch tail of wire before tightly wrapping
the wire around the cluster two or three times. Cut the wire
and tie off. |
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| A cluster made with berried holly,
traditional spiked holly and cypress. |
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| STEP FOUR
| Binding the clusters to the wreath ring |
Tie the green twine to the holly ring.
Tightly bind the string around the ring about three times.
While holding the string tight place your first cluster on
the holly ring, towards the centre. Tightly bind the cluster
to the wring with at least three rotations. Place the next
cluster on the ring facing the some direction, about one
inch along and towards the centre of the ring. Again tightly
bind with at least three rotations. Add the third cluster
facing the same direction about one inch further along and
towards the outer edge of the ring. Secure tightly with
three rotations of the twine. |
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Repeat this process again, starting towards
the inner edge of the ring. Once you have circled the ring,
lift up the first cluster and tie of the last cluster
underneath. Finally tie off the twine at the back of the ring.
Use a screwdriver to force the twine beneath one of the
bindings and tie off securely. You could also create a hanging
loop at this stage. Now firmly hold the wreath ring in one
hand and with the other push the holly forwards away
from the back of the to give a uniform shape. Trim any excess
holly from the wreath using pruners or wire cutters
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| Adding Flowers, Colour etc
| The simplest additions can be made using
Christmas Rose Picks or Poinsettia Picks. The wire of these picks
is strong enough to be pushed through the ring. Pull the wire from
the back with pliers, bend the wire back on itself and push the
sharp end back into the ring at an angle to ensure it does not
exit the ring. |
| You can use other flowers etc by first wiring
them to some stem wire. |
| Add florist ribbon to add colour and flair. |
| A stunning effect can be achieved with careful
use of Gold or Silver Spray Paint. Simply mist spray the wreath
from at least one foot away, with short bursts of spray while
moving the can back and forth. |
| To add Walnuts, Fir Cones etc. Secure the Walnut
by wrapping wire around the nut like you would tie up a parcel,
leaving one long end of wire to secure the nut to the Wreath.
Holding the nut by the wire, spray the nut with gold or silver
spray paint. All to dry then secure to your wreath. When using a
fir cone, secure the wire around the cone one or two levels up,
and spray paint as per the walnut. |
| Add additional colour by using vividly coloured
dried or artificial fruits such as Red Pepper or Tangerines.
secure the fruits with wire and either build them into your
clusters as at step three, or wire into the wreath. |
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Buy Wreath Ring Items |
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