DIY Christmas Wreath
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By Julie Chang
I think it was Martha Stewart from her Everyday Living magazine that brainwashed me as a child and made me believe that if I had a hot glue gun and sharp scissors, then I could create anything. Before the days of Pinterest, I would wait for the newest edition to hit the magazine racks at the grocery store to instill in me the latest unattainable and extravagant idea for food and craft.
It was especially during the holidays when things got unruly for me and my ambitions reflect something like a wrestler who just made weight at an all you can eat Chinese Buffet. I would over promise on craft purchases, and years later have the raw materials still sitting in a tupperware box with partially created pieces of junk just collecting dust. It wasn’t until my 20’s when I finally realized that I loved art, but hated crafts. Precision and details were never really my thing. Cutting paper gives me backaches.
I think that’s why I was so surprised to find that I enjoyed making wreaths. With wreaths, you don’t need to be precise, and you can forage whatever you have lying around the house or outside, and wire it onto a circular ring to make it beautiful. In order to make a wreath, it only takes an initial investment for the hardwire supplies, but after that you can reuse everything, so it is relatively inexpensive in the long run.
Here is what you need in order to recreate the wreaths that we have hanging in the sanctuary:
An embroidery ring
Floral wire
Wire cutters
Shrub clippers
A hot glue gun with hot glue sticks
Foliage (We purchased the ones in Missio at Trader Joe’s, but I later found that Smith’s was giving away boxes daily of Christmas tree clippings, and historically I have just clipped trimmings from trees and bushes outside.)
Dried Oranges ( See Recipe for dried oranges below)
Directions:
Take the embroidery ring and place foliage on top of it to shape and design the way you desire your wreath to look. This is a very forgiving process. You can use your shrub clippers to cut and shape however long you’d like the greenery to look.
Once you have an idea of what you’d like your wreath to look like, then take the floral wire and start to layer and wrap the shrubs onto the wreath. Tuck the end of the wire within the wrapped parts in order to secure and tighten the wire along the wreath.
To hide the exposed wrap around wire, take the dried oranges and hot glue them over the exposed wire and wherever else you desire dried oranges to live on your wreath.
Wait until the hot glue is cool before picking up your wreath to hang.
Dried Oranges:
Slice the oranges thin (about a ¼ inch width)
Pat dry with paper towels
Place them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet (you can also use a greased sheet or a wire cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet). Make sure they are spread evenly to get good air circulation around them.
Place the orange covered sheets in the oven at a low temperature (between 170-200 degrees) for about 6-8 hours turning the oranges over every 2 hours.
