Christmas Wreath Making Instructions

Thank you for buying the Fieldcrest Christmas Wreath making kit! We hope you enjoy putting yours together.

We have taken some pictures of the step by step process for you you use alongside your written guide. Follow along and you’ll have a beautiful Christmas Wreath in no time.

Preparation

If you’re not making your wreath straight away, put the foliage straight into water (standing up in a container/s) and keep in a cool place until you’re ready to begin. Put the decorations to one side (these don’t need to go into water)

Prepare a sturdy, waterproof surface to make your wreath on. Either a worktop or a plastic tablecloth will work well.

Step 1: Prepare your base

Take the foam wreath base and trim around the top edges to give maximum space for stems. An ordinary knife is fine to do this.

Place the wreath foam side down into water and leave for approximately 5 minutes. Do not press down.

Once bubbles stop coming from the foam, lift the wreath out and put plastic side down on your work area. Pop a towel underneath if there’s any excess water. If your wreath is too big to fit into your sink, just soak either side, one at a time.

Wrap the twine around the top of the wreath two or three times so you know where the top is. You can also use this as your hanger if you’re attaching to the door.

Step 2: Assemble your wreath – Foliage

Start with the conifer, cutting lengths of around 10-12cm (4 -5 inches) and building a ring around the outside edge. Cut the stems at an angle to form a point and clear the bottom of the stem from leaves to give you a clear 3cm stem to go into the foam.

Insert the stems into the foam with the stem slanting down from the tip. You do this so that the plastic ring won’t be obvious and the wreath will be better filled.

When cutting your foliage into smaller sections try to plan your cuts to get the most from each length. By cutting your foliage economically you should be able to get many stems from each length. Any conifer stems that have blunt tops can be used to fill in the back!

For example: Each length of the conifer should make about 12 stems to go into your wreath, and the Eucalyptus should make about 10 stems.

Next, insert another foliage stem above and at a more upward angle. Do the same with the inside part of the ring, then place some foliage at the top of the ring to lightly fill in.

The idea is to start a cover for the ring, not a hedge, so don’t use too much foliage at first. You can fill in any gaps later.

Choose your second type foliage and repeat, then another so you have a good fill of foliage on your wreath. We have included a selection of different foliage for you to choose from.

If you are adding a ribbon bow at the top or bottom of the wreath, do not fill in this area too densely with foliage.

Step 3: Decorations

The easiest and most secure way to attach cones is to wire them in. To do this, take one of the pre-cut lengths of wire and wrap it around the cone between the seeds near the base.

Pull both ends of the wire together and twist the wire around itself to secure. Trim the ends of the wire to an appropriate length, pull them straight and push into the foam.

You can bunch the cones together or spread them around the wreath individually.

Berries and other decorations:

Depending on the other decorations you select, you should be able to attach them to the wreath in a similar way to the cones. For picked berries and small seed heads, wrap wire around the stem about 1/3 of the way up, combine the ends of the wire and trim. Use the green coated wire for these.

For baubles, extra ribbons or cinnamon sticks most can be secured with a shorter length of wire, wrapped around and then trimmed off.

2c: Review

Now that you have your base established and your decorations in place, review the wreath to see if there are any glaring gaps where the foam is still viable. Use any leftover foliage to trim short lengths and fill in the gaps.

2d: Ribbon

If you want to, you can make a bow using the ribbon provided and attach to your wreath as follows:

Flatten the wired ribbon out to smooth any kinks.

On a flat surface, being careful not to twist the ribbon, shape two loops at the top (like bunny ears), with the ends loose at the sides, and a downward facing loop in the centre.

Cross the right loop over the left loop, keeping the empty loop where the bases meet. Make sure the tails are equal lengths and flat.

Fold what is now the left loop down behind the right loop and pass it forwards through the empty bottom loop.

Pull the top loops taut to form a knot in the centre of the bow. Trim the tails in a point or notch. Tug gently on the loops of the bow and tails to even out each side.

Finesse your bow to any size and shape you like by smoothing and curving. It’s OK if it doesn’t look perfect, you can always pull the bow apart and start again!

Attach the bow to your wreath with either a short length of wire passed invisibly through the back of the bow, or if you have ribbon spare, wrap the around the front of your bow and tie at the back of the wreath

2e Review (again!)

You can now hang my wreath on a wall or the door at this stage to see how it looks.  Be careful though as water may drip down so pop your towel underneath first. Do not hang on a wooden door until this excess water has dried.

Now that the wreath is vertical, you might notice that it needs more filling at the edges or the decorations need rearranging. Tweak away!

Once you’re happy (and there are no drips), attach your wreath in its final location and sit back and admire your work.

Step 3: Aftercare

The foliage in the wreath should last for ages. Make sure that the foam is moist at all times, either by spraying with a mister or taking down and watering in the sink, or the foliage may dry out (do not immerse the light pack if you have added lights)

You could add fresh flowers such as roses, carnations, or other fresh flowers to the wreath just before Christmas and these will last a few days if kept moist. We sometimes use spray carnations as they have narrow stems. Try not to use flowers with thick stems as they will make too large a hole in the foam and may fall out.

We hope you enjoy your individual wreaths – do send us pictures to [email protected] or share on our social media

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