It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas - Trees & Wreaths

This week I am thrilled to be teaming up with 

Kathy from Life On Lakeshore Drive, 
Doreen from House Honeys
and Tammy from One More Time Events to bring you…

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Each week will feature a different element of Christmas and each party will have it's own hostess.
 

Nov. 28th Life on Lakeshore Drive will host ornaments & decor {Link up your ornaments and decor here}

Dec. 5th Kathe With An E will host mantels & tablescapes {Link up your mantels and tables here}

Dec. 12th HouseHoneys will host trees & wreaths

Dec. 19th One More Time Events will host desserts & holiday food

Once you link up at one of the host blogs, your link is visible on all four blogs.

We can't wait to see your Christmas creations! Please grab a button to add to your post, sidebar or party page to help spread the Christmas cheer.

 

The only rule is that we ask that you follow the hostess each week! Just let us know you are a new follower, and we would love to follow you back!

**All that share at all 4 parties will be entered into a drawing and the winner will be chosen using Random.org.**

{This pan retails for $64.99!}

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We hope to see you at each party!

{FYI: following is not a requirement to link. But, these ladies all have great blogs, so we would love to have you stay in touch!}

It’s also not a requirement to display the button, but if you would like to add it to your post, sidebar, or list of link parties, please feel free!. The more participants in the party, the merrier! 
This week we are featuring

Wreaths and Trees

with your hostess
Doreen from 
House Honeys
 

Hi Everyone! I'm so happy to be participating in this blog hop with these fabulous bloggers! Now grab yourselves a cuppa joe and get comfortable. You're gonna love these wreaths!

A couple of weeks ago I went with my friends Cheryl and Penny to Stockbridge, Massachusetts to help out with their annual fundraiser for the Botanical Gardens. Every year for about a week the Gardens open up this large room pictured below to volunteers who decorate wreaths, garland and/or miniature houses. The Botanical Gardens provides all the supplies and a few days later the items are sold at a fundraiser.

I was amazed and delighted with how many supplies were available to us. Far more than I can show here. And I understand there were even more but we were helping out at the tail end of their efforts so a lot of things were already used up.

 

The theme this year was 'natural'. Lots of burlap, pine cones, bark, acorns, moss, twigs and flowers were at our disposal. After a couple of hours, Cheryl succeeded in making three wreaths (show off), while Penny and I each made two. Here's a peek at some of the wreaths that were made by us and the other ladies who were there that day.

There's always one rogue volunteer in the crowd. Someone should have told her the theme was natural. *la la la la* Seriously, I just figured someone had to do something different. ;) I spray painted the wreath and some twigs with silver metallic paint. It only took a few minutes to dry and then I was ready to get it decorated for its Vegas debut.

When the volunteers were done, the wreaths were brought outside and placed on a lattice wall they had set up. There were a LOT more than you see here and they were all so pretty! I understand that for the fundraiser they sell for anywhere between $40-$100 each.

A quick look at some of the other pretties made in the days prior to our visit.

How cute is this? A little hobbit house :).

I don't know about you, but I'm really bad at making bows. Penny, on the other hand, is a wiz. Did I mention she worked at a floral shop for many years prior to retiring? So I convinced her to give us a quick tutorial on how to make a bow because let's face it, a wreath without a bow is like Bonnie without Clyde, Ricky without Lucy, Mutt without Jeff, Ralph without Alice...ok, I'm showing my age here so I'll shut up.

So grab yourself a wired ribbon for starters. Wired ribbons are a hundred times easier to work with, and the final results are always prettier. Decide on how long you want the tail to be and pinch the ribbon tightly where the center will be as shown.

Make a loop going upward, pinch, then make the same size loop going downward. It's important to keep the loops as close as possible to each other in size.

Continue reversing the direction of the loops and be sure to squeeze your fingers tightly around the center. DON'T LET GO!

Three loops on each side are a good place to stop. You can do more or less, but a total of six looks nice for most applications.

When you're done making the desired number of loops, twist the center tightly and tie a floral wire really tight around the center, leaving enough wire exposed to secure the bow to the wreath.

It took me a while to get it right the first time. About 20 minutes! Penny advises to take your time with it. Rushing will only lead to frustration.

Don't you think this fundraiser is a great idea? I could imagine a bunch of craft/diy bloggers gathering in a space like this with all those materials at their disposal. What a hoot that would be! It was a fun day and I'm looking forward to doing it again next year.

So, which wreath is your favorite? Can you guess which other one was mine? How about Cheryl's? Or Penny's? Remember...Penny is pretty much a professional, and in my opinion her wreaths have that 'decorator' touch. So, whadaya' think?

Now, it's your turn!

We can't wait to see your Christmas mantels and tablescapes! 

{Please share the party button for all to see.}