When December hits, I usually jump into holiday decorations and baking. What I always enjoy about this time of year is that people have an excuse to get together, share good food, special treats and think of little surprises for loved ones. Sharing and spending time together…. what could be better? (Other than recycling furniture or making art:)

I had been wanting to make wreaths for some time, so this year, I got a few branches from a near by wooded area and started working.

I found some branches with little red berries and two or three small branches of cedar and fir tree.

I’d thought I’d use a coat hanger as a base but when I saw how nice and bendy the cedar branches were, I decided to use those ( which I’d leave bare for a section of the wreath, to give it a delicate yet rustic look).

I bent the branch gently and slowly so the branch would not break, while checking to see if the curve would stay, then bending some more if it hadn’t.

I then used tie wraps to tie the overlapping branch pieces together. Tie wraps are what I had at hand although The flashy yellow colour would have to be hidden (florist wire would have been better).

Next, I “wove” in other branches and berries into the branches already there, t’ill I was happy with the result (attaching with tie wrap again).

The fun thing about a casual wreath is that it looks great, hung on a bare nail or simple hook, left visible, no need for special or fancy hooks.