In a Vase on Monday: there may be snow

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Christmas decorations, Christmas wreath, hydrangea, in a vase on Monday

Cathy does an amazing job hosting the IAVOM. Every week she manages to find something to share with us. Well there is snow on the ground here and the challenge seems almost impossible, yet….

This is my wreath I made for my boss using hydrangeas I grow in her garden.

I picked some of the flowers in November while they still had some colour and hung them to dry in her greenhouse.

I wrapped a florists metal ring in moss and then greenery followed by the flower heads. I wired each stem to enable them to be secured.

A few small white and silver baubles were added and a silver ribbon to finish off.

So a little variation from the true IAVOM but faffing with flowers was involved. I hope you like it. Now do take a look at the other contributors on Cathy’s blog.

Have a good week and be careful out there on the ice.

Friday: faffing with flowers

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Christmas, Christmas wreath, hydrangea, Thank goodness it's Friday, wreath making

December is here and in readiness for Christmas I have today made a wreath with hydrangea heads snipped from the garden. These have been hung to dry over the last few weeks in preparation.

Based on a metal ring padded with moss and a covering of greenery, the flowers have been wired and secured in place.

A bit of silver ribbon and a few, silver and white small baubles, job done.

Hung up and ready for Christmas.

Season’s Greetings

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Allium decorations, Allium Purple Sensation, Christmas wreath, female holly, Ilex Altaclerensis Golden king, Letterpress Noel, Silver sprayed alliums

Letterpress Noel

Like most of you I have been rather busy with Christmas and hope that you have all had an enjoyable few days with your nearest and dearest.

One of the lovely things about the Christmas period is the preparation and decoration. I made three wreaths, one for my boss, one for the church and one for home.  All three are completely different thanks to the foliage chosen.  For home I used lengths of ivy wound round and round with clusters of hawthorn berries tied with florist wire into little groups.  Topped off with a red ribbon and white lights it has sat next to my door, gently twinkling.  This was made with a group of friends who were  making their own wreaths.  Amazingly no two were even a bit alike.

For work I used a large moss covered ring, dressed with a layer of evergreen conifer, topped with varigated Euonymous, female holly Golden king, Ilex Altaclerensis and clusters of their berries.

For the church I used the glaucus blue green foliage of an unknown conifer. This was snipped from my neighbours tree, with permission, but I do not know the form.  It has a strong conifer scent, is rather sticky to use and has small tight cones.  Do you recognise it? Do tell me what species it is, if you know.  To this I added clusters of hawthorn berries and a red bow.  To help the wreath twinkle and stand out against the dark door I added some gold tinsle.

I have a vase full of silver sprayed allium heads mixed with a couple of painted white twigs to decorate the sideboard.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

There is a Christmas tree with the usual lights and collection of baubles but I think it is the ones which are home made which are the ones held dear.

Best wishes to you and may your New Year 2016 be healthy and happy.

It’s beginning to feel a bit like Christmas

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Christmas wreath

Getting ready for Christmas is in some ways, the best part.  Wrestling the box of decorations out of the loft or cupboard, carefully unwrapping the contents, is always a sign that Christmas is on its way.  The annual ritual of choosing the tree which gets to grace our homes, then struggling and battling with said tree to get it vertical, is another one of those fun preparations.  This year, as daughter Dorris is away at University I decided to dress the tree with her, thanks to the technology that is Face time.  Such larks, a bit like the Golden Shot, if you can remember that , Left a bit, right a bit.

Then there is the making of the wreath.

I have for the past few years done one for home and one for the boss.  This year the boss settled on a green and red theme liking the traditional mix of foliage and berries.   Bright and  cheery.

For myself I chose silvery tones thanks to a donation of Eucalyptus leaves and teasels from one of my neighbours.  The teasels got a squirt of silver spray and I used some ribbon left over from an earlier Christmas.  This may be rather understated for some however I am happy enough with it.

On Saturday I helped to dress the Church with a friend and neighbour, Mrs Martha. As we were the new girls we were trusted to do the porch, i.e. not actually the interior of the Church.  These are our efforts:

I hope you are nearly ready and your decorations are up.  Ten more sleeps!