Ready for your weekend project?  It’s holiday-themed planters this week and a quick tour of our front door, decorated for the season in non-traditional but natural tones of deep green, eucalyptus blue, and golden yellow.

It just didn’t feel like a red and green year for the holiday planters and wreath.  Somewhat inspired by the golden berries and seeded eucalyptus stems that were found at the garden centre but also a unique contrast to the Bloodgood Japanese Maple-coloured front door, the pale green of the house, and the rustic tones of burlap which the planters are wrapped in.

The glossy deep green tones that create the base notes for the planters and wreath come mostly from pine, yew, cedar, and sarcococca branches.  Adding some blue spruce and eucalyptus adds that calming grey-green-blue colour that lifts the green and adds amazing texture.  Aucuba, stems of yellow berries, and dried hops (from the Halloween Hop Wreath) add the accents.

Of course no holiday display is complete without lighting.  Cool white LED branch lights were added to the planters and champagne-coloured pinecone lights were wrapped around the banister, tangled with a blackberry branch for fun.

Ready to make your own?  Here are the instructions.  PS: If you still need to make a wreath check out the instructions here. 

Materials:

• evergreen foliage
• plant pot with soil
• pruners
• gloves
• twine
• burlap
• branch lights
• berries, twigs, pinecones, ribbons (optional)

Instructions:

Step 1: Start with a planter filled with soil.  We used one of the self-watering pots that previously held a tomato plant that had yet to be discarded.  Begin to build your base by tucking in cedar or an evergreen that will gently hang over the edge of the planter around the perimeter of the pot.

Step 2: Gather a variety of foliage, berries, twigs, pinecones, ribbons, and anything else you want to add to your wreath.  Prune the stems into a point for easier inserting into the soil.  Continue to build the foliage up, by working from the outside towards the centre of the pot.  Here pine boughs and sarcococca make up the base structure of the planter.

Step 3: Continue to add colour and textured foliage to the planter until you get the look you were hoping for.  Adding interesting branches and twigs like the curly willow shown here can create height and more interest to the planter.

Step 4: Cut a square of burlap large enough to be folded up and around the planter.  Set the planter in the centre of the burlap square, lift the edges up and tuck into the edge of the planter, just under the cedar you added first.  Tie securely with a length of twine or a ribbon if you choose.

Step 5: Add lighting and c’est tout!  Head on inside for a rum and eggnog because the front entryway is now ready for the holidays!

I’m linking to these parties this week.  Thanks for visiting!

Every year we like to hang a different wreath on our front door during the holidays.  We’ve amassed a collection of wreaths to match the holiday season trends of sparkly red berries, Christmas ornaments, peacock feathers, and square-shaped boxwood but my favorites are most certainly natural, fresh wreaths.

A fresh wreath makes for an individual work of art that smells as good as it looks.  Florists and garden centers are wonderful places to find one to suit any style but if you are feeling adventurous, a homemade wreath made with garden clippings or purchased greens, can be most gratifying.

Given the current popularity of lateral space gardening, there are supplies available for all sorts of wreath plantings. Evergreen, succulent, moss, and flower wreaths are beautiful micro gardens that will suit most any style or climate.  Care will vary depending on what type of planting you decide on, but many will last for months, if not years, with a couple weekly squirts of a spray bottle.

Here’s how to make one:

Materials:

• evergreen foliage
• grapevine wreath
• pruners
• gloves
• twine
• berries, twigs, pinecones, ribbons (optional)

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A special thanks to the wonderful neighbourhood gals who provided all the foliage, wine, and treats that go along with the annual wreath-making afternoon.

Without the space to grow hops in our small, urban garden, we were excited to receive a gift of freshly cut hops from the country.  the Golden Hop Vine (Humulus lupulus ‘Aureus’) is a vigorous-growing deciduous vine and the prettier sibling of the common hops used to make beer.    The cone-shaped flowers are green in the summer but when it’s time to cut the vine back in the fall, the flowers start to turn.  The flowers arrived a pale yellow, but have dried to a rich golden colour.  If you are lucky enough to get your hands on some hops, here are the instructions on making your own Halloween Hop Wreath.

Materials:

• grapevine wreath
• golden hop stems
• scissors
• Halloween decoration (crow or other)

Step 1: Pick out strong stems  3″-6″ long with clusters of hops at the ends.  Snip off the leaves and flowers at the base of each stem, enough so that the stem can inserted into the wreath and hold.

Step 2: Starting at the inner bottom edge of the wreath, tuck each stem into the web of grapevine branches, enough so that when the wreath is hung they will not fall out.  Insert the stems around the grapevine wreath from inner bottom edge of the form to the upper top edge.  As the hop flowers will hang once mounted upright, this will ensure that the wreath will look symmetrical.  A good practice is to periodically lift the wreath to its finished position to check the arrangement.  Give it a light shake at the same time to remove any flowers that are loose.

Step 3: Use your creativity to decorate the wreath for the season. We used a crow but a spider, rat, or even a severed hand would have been just as compelling.

Step 4: hang your wreath and enjoy the flowers as they deepen in colour and release the most delicious hop aroma.

Materials:

• wire coat hanger
• scissors
• twine or wire (in a colour that matches your flowers*)
• dried lavender

Instructions:

The best part about this project is that you don’t need any special materials beyond what you can likely find around the house.  Start by bending a wire coat hanger into a circular form.  The hook of the hanger will be hidden when the wreath is complete, and it makes it easy to hang the wreath when finished.

Wreaths of Hope 2010

People living in poverty and addiction are awaiting the opportunity to use their unique talents once again to create your holiday wreaths.  By purchasing one you are giving one of the greatest gifts possible: dignity and hope to someone struggling to improve his or her life.  Just as the wreath was an early Roman and Greek symbol of victory, with every purchase you help someone experience a small victory in his or her life.

Each year the need is even greater than before, as many people face the winter without even their basic needs met. While we are not able to solve the big picture for the poorest people in our city, together we can make a difference in the lives of some.  In this, our tenth year of wreath making, we aim to create many more hours of meaningful employment.

Pricing remains unchanged this year at $45.00 (Small) $60.00 (Med) and $90.00 (Large).

Please call Emerging Hope Projects to order: Ph:604.716.4284

THANK YOU for giving someone a hand up not a hand out this holiday.