Well, what a lovely morning this was. I’m starting to feel really Christmassy now. It could be because I work in a school and it’s nativity play week. It could be because I have heard ‘Little Donkey’ so many times I’m singing it in my sleep. Or it could be because I’ve seen Father Christmas. Yes, the big man himself! It’s quite embarrassing really how excited I must look. Out of an entire crowd of people, other than to the children, I was the only adult that got my own personal wave and a shout to ask if I’d been a good girl! I of course told him of my exemplary behaviour all year, my need for a new dressing gown and put everyone else a good word in too. I must try to stop looking so excited because to my grown children I am an absolute embarrassment but you know what I say……….you are never too old to believe! If you don’t believe he does not come!
I love making things and for a few years now I’ve wanted to go on a floristry workshop to learn how to make one of those beautiful natural looking Christmas wreaths but by the time I get around to booking on one they are always fully booked.
So, this year I organised myself and booked early and on Sunday morning I went to the very pretty village of Hooton Pagnell to a workshop that was held in the church. It was the perfect setting for a Christmas wreath making workshop. There was a little bit of snow on the ground and it was cold and crisp.
We’d been e-mailed a couple of days before to tell us to layer our clothing as churches at this time of year are very cold, even with the heating on and it hasn’t got above zero degrees now for almost a week. It was freezing and I kept my down jacket and scarf on all the way through but that did not matter as it somehow made it feel more Christmassy. The church was all lit with candles and Christmas carols were playing in the background.
The workshop was run by the lovely Hannah who owns her own floristry business called The Garden of Evie. Hannah is an eco-florist focusing on sustainable floristry. She only uses British grown flowers that are in season and all natural materials wherever possible, so no plastic, no florist’s oasis foam etc. A lot of the flowers she grows herself in her own cutting patch and the rest of the materials are foraged from the local area where possible. Some of the items she uses in her designs are just so effective and I would never have thought of using………..dead flower heads, pheasant feathers, seed pods, twigs………..some really unusual stuff. There are some pictures of her work on her website here and if you like natural flowers and floristry it’s well worth a look:
https://www.thegardenofevie.co.uk/
So off we set to make our wreaths. We had two hours to make a wreath of our own design using any of the materials she had brought……..and there were lots to choose from. First of all, we covered our wreath ring with sphagnum moss and then we set to work on making individual bundles of foliage and decorations to securely attach all the way around the ring. It’s not that difficult a thing to make once you know how and follow all the tips from the expert. The most difficult part was choosing which colour velvet ribbon I wanted to attach to it. I’m hopeless when I’m given too much choice and Hannah had just so much lovely velvet ribbon to choose from in a multitude of colours and widths.
Then, as if the morning could not get any better there were refreshments………and I like refreshments……..especially when the refreshments include cakes!! There was tiffin, mince pies, cinnamon biscuits, flapjack and all sorts of other home baked Christmas treats along with mulled wine, coffee and tea to drink.
There were around eight of us doing the workshop and it was lovely to meet and chat to such a lovely group of ladies and get into the Christmas spirit. So here it is the finished wreath! I was actually quite proud of it for my first attempt at wreath making. It’s not perfectly symmetrical but that sort of adds to its natural look (or that’s what I’m telling myself!). All eight of them looked fantastic and they were all completely different as they all reflected our own personal tastes.
The only slight problem I had was how I was going to attach it to the door when I got home. I’ve got one of those new composite front doors which you would not want to start knocking nails and hooks into and the wreath is really heavy. You can’t use one of those over the door hangers either as the door won’t close. But I had an ingenious idea. If I made another wreath of the same weight on my own at home, I could have one on the inside of the door too and just hang them over the door like a pendulum and the ribbon would be thin enough for the door to close. So, a little garden centre visit on the way home for another wreath ring and a trip down the woods to get some foliage and I was soon on with wreath number two. I did worry slightly as to how this one would turn out without Hannah’s expert guidance but I actually think I’ve got the hang of this wreath making and it’s just as good as wreath number one. Just look at the mess I made though! It took me the best part of an hour to tidy up after myself, but so much fun.
So, if you like doing, making, Christmas and mince pies like I do I’d definitely recommend a wreath making workshop. A lovely relaxing morning learning how to do something new away from the hecticness of Christmas.