Last year my Christmas wreath was full of gold and silver and cinnamon sticks and dried oranges, and it was gorgeous. This year though I thought I’d try something different, though I wasn’t quite sure what that would be, and there wasn’t much point in having too set an idea as I wasn’t sure what would be available on the night.

This year I made my wreath with a small group of other people in a local pub in the next village to us - and a new to me pub too! The workshop at the Rose & Crown in Farndon was led by Emma from the Farndon Flower Farm, so it was great to support two local businesses at once.

Buckets of greenery and willow rings in the foreground with a luscious table of decorations behind

In progress - adding a mixture of green foliage to the wicker ring

Finished and hanging on the pub's wall underneath two brass lights - so the colours and light distribution are distorted

This year instead of decanting the wreath into the garage overnight, I left it in the boot of the car. Retrieving it the next morning brought a pleasant surprise as not only was it the first time I’d seen the wreath in daylight, but the car also smelt of the pine and eucalyptus foliage.

The next morning opening the car boot and seeing the wreath for the first time in daylight

My plan wasn’t to hang it on the door immediately though, as Storm Darragh with high winds was forecast for the weekend, so the wreath only made it as far as the gym for safekeeping. I was so glad I did as the weather was atrocious, our garden table and chairs were upended at one point, the table completely flipped over by the wind (while the chairs were still attached to it), so it was a good call.

With hindsight we probably should have moved the garden furniture ahead of the storm too - though when we spotted that it needed attention, thankfully it wasn’t raining so moving the table and chairs, and the cover which had become like a sail was only cold, rather than wet and cold work! Thankfully too the ceramic glass top of the table has been cushioned by landing on the grass, so it appears to have escaped undamaged. Phew. Needless to say, it’s staying in the garage for the time being much to MOH’s chagrin.

Hanging the wreath in the garage - ahead of storm darragh

But anyway, the white washed walls so lovingly painted last winter by MOH provided the perfect backdrop for a mini photoshoot!

A section of the wreath with dried pink hydrangeas, dried bfacken and golden balls along with pale fluffy grass heads

Long strands of foliage again with the dried pink hydrangeas, bracken and golden berries - but also with dried sea holly flowers

I was keen to have some longer tendrils of foliage on my wreath, and so that’s what I did choosing to leave the more wispy stems longer. I’ve also used a healthy dose of eucalyptus, which means every time we come in or go out we get a noseful of that - it’s glorious.

The wreath finally hung on our back (front) door, but... look above the door handle

Decoration wise I added five sprigs of dried hydrangea - these were all from one flowerhead and separated into smaller more manageable sections. With those in place I added some dried bracken which adds a touch of natural gold, and bundles of berries sprayed gold, fluffy grass heads and dried sea holly flowers.

And I’m really pleased with how it turned out, and it looks great hanging on the dark grey door, as I knew it would. Though as I stepped back to admire it, my eyes were drawn to the door just above the handle, and yes, the door had eaten the wreath.

One of the longer tendrils of foliage had caught in the door

From inside - the tendril made it all the way through the door - trimming required!

So much so, that this particular tendril had made it inside - some trimming was definitely needed! Now it’s trimmed and looking fantastic, we’re starting to feel like Christmas is definitely on its way!