It is Monday again (where did last week go?) and time to join Cathy (Rambling in the Garden) for a vase. Instead of searching (quite possibly in vain) for something to cut today, I decided to have a go at making a wreath. The neighbouring farmer is very good to us and came over specially to bring me some ‘premium’ fir branches he had saved. Some spruce was cut down near us last week, but he insisted fir was better. After years of calling all evergreens ‘firs’ I am slowly learning to remember the difference. Living on the edge of the Bavarian Forest and having a small area of woodland too means I must make the effort! Having two languages as well as botanical names makes it a bit tricky. 😉
The finished wreath:
Well, thank goodness for YouTube videos as I immediately got the hang of it after watching one and the result was better than I had expected and certainly easier than attempts in previous years! We have no berries left for decorations, so I added some of my favourite little tree decorations and placed a new candle at the centre. Many people have four candles on their crowns, one for each sunday in Advent. But I chose one large candle I had in reserve for the middle.
There are such pretty candles in the shops and at the markets here at Christmas and I always buy far too many… I was so glad of this as I had plenty of unused ones in my ‘stash’ for this year. My decorations are mostly from the Christmas markets and this pewter one is one of my favourites…
Do you make a wreath or crown for Christmas? What materials do you use? And do you have a favourite Christmas decoration?
Wishing you all a lovely week full of little pleasures and joys as appropriate (and necessary) for the season!
🎄🥨🎄
Words and Herbs 
Beautiful Cathy. It’s satisfying to make your own decorations. Fir vs. spruce, hmm? Will have to study up too. Have a great week.
Thanks Susie. Spruce is soft and fir is the spiky one that prickles!
Oh no! I got it the wrong way round! LOL! Still learning! Fir is the soft one. 😊
Fir foliage like this is perfect for a wreath like this, a horizontal one with a candle, with or without berries. It’s great to bring out favourite decorations year after year, isn’t it? (allthough I guess there are some people who like to regularly change their Christmas colour schemes). I have realised that we have had our tree (an artificial spruce) for over 20 years and the decorations are probably equally old, apart from the lights which will have been changed a few times
One day I will find an artificial tree I can live with, but until then my trees are always in pots outdoors and planted out after Christmas. 😃 I had a student once who was a bit eccentric regarding Christmas decorations and had a big cupboard full of different coloured baubles and tinsel in her cellar. Each year she had a different colour scheme! 🎄
This looks really authentic, otherwise I wouldn’t have had it – and I have remembered that it didn’t actually cost us anything! It was after we had been renovating the house when we first bought it, at a time when Homebase issued total spend vouchers which we accumulated a lot of, enough to cover what was a fairly expensive tree at the time 🌲
I think it is worth investing in a good one. Must start looking around eearly next year!
👍
It is lovely, Cathy. We used to have Advent wreaths growing up, with the a new candle lit weekly (lit during dinner during the week), it was a nice way to celebrate the season of light.
Someone once told me a way to tell the difference between fir and spruce: “You can shake hands with a fir, but not a spruce.” Firs are soft and spruce are as prickly as a hedgehog. 🙂
I will never remember Eliza! 🙃 I have written it down so often but just have a mental block with these two! LOL!
This was lovely. Great way to showcase favorite ornaments.
Thank you! 😃
Congratulations on putting together your own wreath, Cathy. I’d planned to do that myself this year and even saved metal frames from the store-bought wreath I purchased last year but circumstances interfered with that plan yet again. The most I may attempt is to embellish the wreath I just bought. Best wishes with all your holiday preparations.
Thanks Kris. I hope you and your family will be able to be together somehow this Christmas Kris – just read your post with the sad news. Wishing you all the best. xx
Well done, how pretty. My German mother- in- law always used to make an Adventskranz with 4 candles every year. You certainly live in the right place for festive greenery.
So you have German connections! Yes, we have enough firewood and greenery here to last a lifetime LOL!!
My first husband, the father of my chidren was German.
Oh, that’s lovely. Thanks for sharing the seasonal joy. 🙂
You’re welcome Beth. 🎄❄️☃️
This looks very pretty, Cathy, it’s nice to have such a thoughtful neighbour. 🙂 I usually make an “Adventskranz” but this year I’ve opted for a different thing: 4 candles in green ceramic yogurth pots (French ones are irresistable 😉 ) which I decorated with ribbon and holly. It looks quite sweet. A “Lichtblick” so to speak!
I had to make a wreath really, after having special greenery delivered to the door it would have seemed rude not to! LOL! I have to admit we will give some away and a lot of the spruce is going on the flower beds.
I love the fir wreath with the candle in the center. Christmas tree decorations are lovely, I love them. Cathy the crown has come out divine. My basic health zone is confined until the 13th of this month and they can extend the confinement for another 14 days. If they open for us on the 13th, I want to go to the forest to pick up branches and things from the ground to make a wreath or Christmas decorations, the first ones I make, and no matter how badly they come out, I’m going to photograph them and make a blog with them, because I’m going to do them with all my love. Your crown is wonderful. Take care. Very affectionate greetings from Margarita 😘🎄✨🤗😀
Dear Margarita, I thought your restrictions had got better but it sounds as if that is not the case. I do hope you will be able to go to the forest and have some fun making decorations! Enjoy this advent week! 🤗
I have a mini Frazier Fir Christmas tree and love the firs!! Norway Spruce not so much. I think it is difficult to tell the difference. Oh well. Your wreath looks wonderful and I wish I could find a candle like.that. My wreath may be made from Scheffleras..
Thanks Amy. The spruce is the prickly one, and I am not keen simply for that reason. I have various miniature firs which have been Christmas trees in previous years. 😉
Cathy, your wreath is just beautiful! Is it in water to keep it alive until Christmas? Or is your weather cool enough to keep the fir branches looking fresh for a while?
Hi Joanne. Thankfully the house is nice and warm, so these branches will dry out over time, but since they were freshly cut they will be fine until Christmas and hopefully a bit longer. 😃
Oh that is simple but so effective Cathy. I like your seasonal decorations amongst the fir branches. I have really enjoyed our visits to Christmas markets in France and Belgium where we have come back with some beautiful tree decorations and would love to visit a German Christmas market. My favourite decorations are four musicians (probably a Mexican band) which used to decorate our tree when I was a child. I have never attempted to make a wreath as I am somewhat clumsy with my hands. I think that if I attempted one I would only end up most annoyed with myself 😄
Anna, I thought the same as I am hopeless with arty crafty stuff, but here is the link to the video I watched. It’s German, but I didn’t even have the sound up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcfVPFbLh64
I just watched how she did it and knew immediately where I had been going wrong! You should give it a go. It was so easy once I knew how! 😃
Brilliant and such helpful neighbours too! I make door wreaths, but to be honest this year I just spruced (unintentional sorry) up the old ones, wiring in some hips, haws, ivy and variegated holly for colour and freshness.
I looked for berries but everything has gone mushy after all the icy frost. Like the idea of ‘sprucing’ up a wreath! 😉
Such a beautiful wreath, Cathy. I am sure it had a wonderful fir aroma, too. Lovely, and no, I have never made my own. Not sure why! Now that I see yours I may think differently of that. 🙂
Thank you Debra. It doesn’t smell that much actually, unlike a fir we had in our old garden. It was easier to make than I had imagined once I found the right video to watch!
That looks like common Douglas fir. Do you happen to know what species it is?
This one isn’t Douglas fir, which we have in our old garden -you probably know the name is misleading as it isn’t actually a fir (Abies). A shame we don,t have any here as the Douglas fir smells wonderfully aromatic, like Christmas! This is a common Abies but I couldn’t say which one.
My partner tells me it is a silver fir, Abies alba. 😃
The Douglas fir is the only fir here, so no one seems to mind that it is not an Abies. I intend to add some of the others, but some will not likely be happy here. The Santa Lucia fir was a fad years ago, but happens to be one of the firs that I could do without.
With everything going on in the world this year Cathy I was so lazy when it came to Christmas of course Christ was in the forefront but decorating was not. I will push myself to do this type of centerpiece next year I have many white birches her so if any limbs fall next fall I will save and incorporate it with branch tips from my yard. One year I took a class doing a Boxwood arrangement with a neighbor. We used a small dish, a piece of wet florist foam then added the greens and berries so much fun but now we can buy tiny battery operated lights and tiny ornaments boy we are so spoiled. Maybe our garden club can do a make and take after our traditional Thanksgiving I am sure they will love your idea.
Mine dried out by the time Christmas came! LOL! The wet florist foam would be a good idea, and I wonder if boxwood would last longer. I shall make one to hang on the door outside next year to welcome us and guests…. hopefully we will be allowed visitors by then! 🤪 Looks like we are going to be locked down till Easter. Spring had better come early! Dreaming of tulips. 🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷
Take care Eunice!
OM God until April I bet we will be under lockdown from the 20th until who knows when 😦
Yes Boxwood lasts a long time with the soaked foam then I guess a mist now and then I am good with it lasting from a week or so before Christmas until mid January but if it lasts into Feb add hearts 🙂 I am not going stir crazy just sad with all who fall sick and die alone. 😦