There are these berry bushes that grow all over the peninsula. In the winter their bare branches and bright, red berries provide welcome splashes of cheery color along the roadside. With the house getting its fresh coat of white paint, it seemed a little holiday color was in order. Clay picked up some wire and hot glue and Dan, Sam and I headed out to hunt berry branches.
There's an especially thick patch on the side of the road behind my parents' house. So we bundled Sam into a wheelbarrow and set out to gather the branches for wreaths.
We clipped a huge pile and carried them home in the wheelbarrow.
We also gathered a few fallen sticks from a tree in the front yard to make frames. I decided to make a square wreath, both because I thought it would look cool and because it seemed like a pretty easy shape for an amateur to start with.
I wired the corners together and then started covering them with the bright red berry branches.
It was pretty straight forward; I just kept laying down more branches until I got the bushiness I wanted and then kept moving around the frame.
It turned out sweet and rustic looking, kind of like the old farmhouse. We made one for my uncle down the road and dropped it off, hanging it on his doorknob; a bright spot of cheer to welcome him home as he turns down his long driveway. As we were walking through the woods I started looking at all sorts of things as potential wreath material; tall golden grasses, moss and old man's beard lichen, red dogwood branches. Look around your own yard, I bet you'll find something just perfect for a holiday wreath too!
