Editor’s note: Find more tips for savoring the season in the full feature story.
A wreath often is one of the first things greeting guests who walk through your home’s front door, so why not make sure it’s setting the best impression? Here are three natural wreath ideas to help your home welcome the holidays.
Eucalyptus (pictured above)
Emerald Design owner Whitney Muncy says evergreens such as cedar, pine, and spruce are especially popular at this time of year. “They give a seasonal look and are long-lasting as fresh greenery,” she says. Eucalyptus, used in this wreath made for Evansville Living, also works perfectly in wreaths because it’s durable and available year-round, Muncy adds. Other natural elements can give wreaths a certain style. “If someone wants a natural, organic look, then pine cones and mosses may be a good choice,” she says. “Grasses can give a wreath a bohemian style, and berries and dried flowers can add color.” Feeling inspired? Sign up via Emerald Design’s e-newsletter for the in-store wreath bar now through January, as well as a wreath-making class Nov. 30 during Small Business Saturday activities.
Grapevine and Berries
Denise Cummings, a team member with Colonial Classics, says she goes into every wreath-making endeavor with few rules. For Evansville Living, Cummings “started with grapevine branches and foraged throughout our tree beds,” she explains. “I selected some different textures and colors that pop and looked very natural.” She used Nandina berries and pine cones in one wreath, and faux berries with no pine cones in the other. Each has various evergreen foliage and can be topped off with a neutral-toned bow. “It’s just going into your own backyard and the woods looking for textures and colors, grouping them together and repeating that pattern, wrapping them with floral wire and overlapping as you go around,” Cummings says. Colonial Classics will host a wreath-making class this season, most likely in late November.
Florals
Randi Gehlhausen, vice president of retail with Zeidler’s Flowers, says the inspiration for a wreath can start from sources such as Pinterest or a do-it-yourself idea sparked from within. Fall is the perfect time to undertake such a creative process, she adds, because of the “cooler temperatures, all of the autumn colors that seem to turn everyone’s head. We can use our resources that have grown and flourished through the summer months.” To craft a wreath that seamlessly transitions from autumn to winter, designer Marilyn Benton used white pine, cedar, magnolia, seeded eucalyptus, grevillea, Italian ruscus, foxtail fern, curly willow, scabiosa pods, lotus pods, caspia, white hypericum berries, pink mink protea, wheat stalks, green amaranthus, helleborus, succulents, and green moss. “Many of these natural items can be found in the outdoors and are very accessible,” Gehlhausen says.
