I like to think of myself as quite crafty (in lot’s of ways! ;), and the perfect time to let your inner-creative out is at Christmas. I’ve always wanted to make a proper Christmas wreath but thought that it would not only cost a fortune but also look pretty rubbish.

BUT – thanks to blogging, I was invited to a class at the Judith Blacklock Flower School in Knightsbridge as part of a Christmas event by the lovely PR team at Aviva (lucky eh?).

For me, a flower arranging class (well, it’s not quite that – but you know what I mean) is about the best way I could think of to spend my time – especially as there was Prosecco and lovely company too (the brilliant Your Best Friend’s Guide To Cash was there – check out her blog).

I took a couple of things away from it, but mostly – just how easy it was to make. I’m sure you’ll agree that the finished product is pretty impressive (feel free to send me compliments), yet simple when you know what to do. It is also really cheap to make – especially when you compare them to the fancy ones you can buy in stores.

Trust me, it’s so worth making. If you’ve been thinking of doing one for years, have a go.

How to make a Christmas wreath

I’m going to tell you what I did, but noticed on Judith’s site (she’s a properly famous florist, my boyfriend’s mum even recognised her!) you can watch a video of her make one for 99p if you need more instruction than this blog post.

Christmas wreath prep

There’s a bit of prep work involved before you put the wreath together.

• The first thing you’ll need is a wire ring which cost about £1.50 each on Amazon (although Judith said that a wire coat hanger would work if you bent it into the same shape).
• You’re going to need florist wire. Binding wire which costs £2 and stub wire which costs £1.80.
• You need the bits and bobs to actually decorate. So cuttings of pine, green leaves, ivy (it doesn’t really matter – go see what is in your local park), pine cones, cinnamon sticks, dried oranges/limes, baubles, dried lotus heads etc.
• Gardening moss – like this.

How to put the wreath together

• Get a load of moss and tightly ball it into a size of a tennis ball. You need about 14 of them.
• Get the binding wire and tie it tightly to circle frame. Give it a couple of wraps around to make sure it’s secure.
• Get your tight ball of moss, put it on the frame and wrap the wire (as tightly as you can) around the moss ball twice.
• Get another ball of moss and push it as tightly next to the first ball off moss as possible, then wrap that around twice… and so on and so on until the whole frame is covered. Give it a bit of a trim so it’s all neat.

• Judith recommended that you get three different types of foliage for this. Take your first one for the top of the wreath. You’ll need three pieces. Take the first piece (the prettiest piece) and with the wire you have to wrap it down tightly as low down as you can (so it’s kind of 3D not too flat on the moss), then wrap a piece just under it covering the bottom of the moss, and then a bit on the top. You then move onto the next type of foliage doing the same thing until it is completely covered.
• With the oranges, pine cones etc – you need to use the stub wire. Stab the oranges, stick the wire through, and when it’s in the middle bend it in half and twist it as tightly as possible – so you can stab it into the moss. With the pine cones, wrap the stub wire around the bottom of the cone, twist the wire and make it stab-able. (Does this make sense?! The more I write this blog post, the more I think you should fork out the 99p for the class. haha!)

• Oh, forgot you need a bow. It needs to be quite thick to be dramatic. You can put it up the top which is traditional, or at the bottom (which I did) for a modern look.
• Now you should have all your components wired up and able to stab into the moss – just go for it. You can’t really go wrong.

I can’t tell you how proud I am of my wreath. In fact, I’ve put it in my living room, not my front door – mostly because I reckon it will get nicked in London (I don’t live in a fancy part!) but also because it’s too beautiful not to be looked at all the time.

Oh, make sure you keep the moss at the back damp to keep everything green and vibrant.

Had a little look at how much a real wreath costs and think a fair price is around £40-50+ (though can be A LOT more in parts of London). I reckon you could make this for less than £10 initially, then keep the wire and the oranges etc for next year, so would be free every year after that.

Are you crafty? Thinking of tackling a Christmas wreath? Let me know in the comments.