Christmas Wreath Making
On 7th December 2019, 27 East Anglian Garden Group members and their guests met at Chamberlin Hall for the return of our popular Christmas Wreath Making session. It was good to see a number of members from last year’s session returning for yet another go!
Bags of foliage arrived, each one more interesting than the last – it’s amazing what everyone has in their gardens.
This year we were able to secure the services of Helen Newman, a very talented florist from Bildeston. Helen sat us all down and gave us all initial instruction on how to get started. Helen had prepared the oasis base by pre-soaking and also by fixing a wire loop through the base so that it could be hung up. Within minutes she was starting to produce what looked like an incredibly professional wreath – how were we all going to do?
She asked us to ensure that as we started we put all the foliage around the outside pointing at an angle so that it looked as though the wreaths were swirling round. Initially this seemed difficult to do, but once we all got going we could see the effect that it was creating. Once the outer ring was created we were then asked to complete the small inner centre, completing the foliage in the same direction. Helen said not to worry if the inner part of the ring disappears – it can always be clipped and snipped with a pair of scissors. Once this was completed we were then tasked with filling in the rest of the wreath.
Once we had all completed the foliage part of our wreaths we could then stop for a much-needed cuppa and a piece of cake. A big ‘thank you’ to everyone who bought raffle tickets for a little festive raffle – proceeds have gone into our funds.
At this point, Erica Bolam bought out a beautiful birthday cake to celebrate the birthday of Maggie Thorpe, our President. Maggie was surprised and delighted in equal measure – and to think she had only come along to help make the teas!
Helen then gathered us all together to discuss the final flourishes. She had brought with her literally everything we would need to personalise our wreaths – cones, orange slices, cinnamon sticks, ribbons and even sparkly gold and silver paint. Helen showed us how to secure items using floristry wire. She also showed us the secret of producing a beautiful bow.
Everyone got back to work personalising their wreaths. Some members had bought along their own baubles but generally we all used the items that Helen bought with her. Lots of fun was to be had, painting the edges of the cones with gold or white paint, so simply but so effective.
The session seemed to whiz by, and at the end everyone was asked to put their wreaths on the floor for a little informal judging by Maggie and Helen. The results were all amazing, a really good standard but Helen judged Anna Seiffer - Liz Well’s daughter as the winner due to her incredible neatness.
A huge ‘thank you’ to all of you who helped to clear up, to Maggie for making the tea and heating the mince pies and to Helen for all her fantastic knowledge – one snippet, if you use your oasis base as a table decoration, pop a candle into a glass jar or vase into the centre. Put cinnamon, star anise and other Christmas spices into the bottom of the jar and stand the candle on top. As the candle burns it will warm up the spices and produce lots of Christmas smells – see, its easy when you know how!
Jan Kelsall
