The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Food & crafts => Crafts => Topic started by: kaz on November 06, 2009, 06:43:04 pm
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Any arty/crafty person out there can tell me how to make a Christmas wreath for my front door this year.
I've always wanted to have a go but didn't really know where to start. :dunce:
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you can make a star one by going out and collect enought twigs then get green garden wire or string and wrap them in to a star shape then add other thing to taste. like tree cones , greenery or xmas items
Linz
that reminds i need a new one my one broke last year in the winds
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Try youtube always everything on there! :)
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If you've got a holly tree/bush, ivy and llylandii (spelling?) all you need is a green oasis wreat from a florist or ebay.
Soak the wreath then push all the bits into it, following the shape of the circle and covering all the green, once it's covered you can add flowers and berries, cones and ribbons - whatever you like.
http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/projects/christmas-wreath/ (http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/projects/christmas-wreath/)
http://christmas.howstuffworks.com/decorations/how-to-make-a-christmas-wreath.htm (http://christmas.howstuffworks.com/decorations/how-to-make-a-christmas-wreath.htm)
http://www.lainesworld.co.uk/project/xmas/hollywreath/index.htm (http://www.lainesworld.co.uk/project/xmas/hollywreath/index.htm)
These all have tips and ideas, hope that helps
Karen x
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How about this one - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvaRCEwZTm4
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annie I love your your you tube one, I'm going to try it.
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How about this one I googled today. www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-a-christmas-wreath
I presume that the oasis is the wet kind as the greenery needs to be kept alive.
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Hiya, I kept getting a toblerone add with your link ! :yum: Maybe it's just me ???
But yes, if you're using fresh greenery it'll be a green oasis ring that you soak in the sink before starting - they last for weeks and can be topped up too. Good luck and post us a photo once you've done it won't you ?
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If you just let the ad go to the end, the instructions follow.
The other question is where can you get a wreath shaped piece of oasis?
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R.I.P. Santa !!
I didn't even know father Christmas had died !!! What a sad day ...!!! :'(
Just think of all those children now with no toys at Christmas time ... :'( :'( :'(
Although I won't be making a wreath for him ....my thoughts go to his family and little helpers !!!
cheers
Russ
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The other question is where can you get a wreath shaped piece of oasis?
florist or ebay ?
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Here's one I found on ebay - they do come in various sizes though, so this might be too big/small.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1-x-14-oasis-wreath-foam-ring-plastic-naylor-base_W0QQitemZ350020555940QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Crafts_FloralSupplies_SM?hash=item517ed9d4a4 (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1-x-14-oasis-wreath-foam-ring-plastic-naylor-base_W0QQitemZ350020555940QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Crafts_FloralSupplies_SM?hash=item517ed9d4a4) and they might be cheaper at your local florist - I'd ask there first before paying extra P&P from ebay ;)
A point worth mentioning - get one with a plastic base or reinforced base as one made purely from green oasis will come apart when it's wet and you try to hang it.
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We're ignoring you Russ - finger in ears again - lalalalalalalalalalala
We love you really!(http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/Laughing/lol-020.gif)
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So it's Santa that the wreaths are for? I have tried to make them several times and end up with cut up fingers so I now buy them, in fact not last Christmas but the year before I bought one and was never sure if it was real or fake, I used it again last year and added a bit...I think I have now thrown it out ummmmmmmm ??? I usualy buy something cheap and add real stuff in abundance and then add false red berries out of little red balls as real ones keep dropping off ::) ::)
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I don't like them. Make the house look like there's been a death in the family! I'd rather plant a tree than take bits off them to make a wreath
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I just think of it as pruneing!!!
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that was exactly what I was eluding to Annie.....!!! ;D ;D
cheers
Russ
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I always ask the trees first....No seriously...I think of them as like those in Lord or the Rings, and so taking their branches is a privilege for them, like choosing the best or prettiest to be made into decorations, only like us having a hair cut, I used to take my children for picnics etc into the woods, play games like "famouse five" including the dog and always told them the trees were watching and listening..you should see the fuss I made when we HAD to cut some down!!!!
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It's an ancient tradition to bring greenery into the house in mid winter. we all need cheering up at this time of year. I like to fill the house with lights for around two weeks. it seems to lift me.
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I don't mind having greenery in the house all year round, or pruning. I just feel wreaths are fro funerals. I've NEVER had one on my door and nevre will.
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My mum made a material wreath. You basically get material with a festive feel to them. Make three long sausages and stuff them, plat them and tie the respective ends together. She did 2. One fat sausage with just enough stuffing and another thinner sausage which she stuffed quite a lot. Something for the kids to try? PS She also lives in Quensland, Australia, where holly is scarce and the weather would wilt it in 2 days, hence fabric. :cat: :chook:
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I usually make one with Tara, and we use thin branches from our Eucalyptus tree because
the colour is a lovely contrast with the other greens.
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I have made two of the chocolate wreaths, One of Quality Street and one of Elizabeth shaws dark chocolate Vodka Shots. They look stunning but I simply cannot get a photo on the site. Must be too thick to understand the instructions. Anyway I have raffled the vodka shots one for my charity "Smile Train " so feel good about them. I would definately make them again next year.Thanks for the film Annie!
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Come on, we MUST have a photo! Open your photo and reduce the size using your software package - if you tell us what you are using, someone will be able to help you. The reply to this message, click on Additional options (bottom left), click on browse to search fort eh photo (best to save it to your desktop then you can find it easily) Then click Post - just like this....................
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Oh yes! just like this? I have tried for two hours but with no luck. my photos are in Picassa3 and even when reduced to a pin head this site still says they are too big.
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Sheila , try opening a photobucket account and uploading your pics to an album you create on there . It is very easy to put piccies on here from there...it is free too!!!
cheers
Russ
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Oh yes! just like this? I have tried for two hours but with no luck. my photos are in Picassa3 and even when reduced to a pin head this site still says they are too big.
I think you are reduceing the size (of the picture) not the quality(kb) of the picture like rusty say get a free online albumn and post from there
Linz
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I have opened a photobucket account but still can't do it help!!!
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Hello Sheila,
I assume you are logged into your photobucket account and have uploaded some pics to it . If so, then all you have to do is hold your mouse cursor over the picture you want to put on here and you should get four choices open up below the picture !! they are :
email & im
direct link
HTML code
IMG code
you want to scroll down to the IMG code line and click on it , sometimes I have to left click on it, others right click ..either way you want to copy the link .
You then just paste the copied link in your post like this :
(http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc21/rustyme57/01062009921.jpg)
hope that helps a bit ...oh and the picture is of Leanne , my great niece . Been sent to the cage for misbehaving .....lol...
cheers
Russ
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Oh Russ. It's like having my own technical support on tap. thank you. I have now got the problem that Photobucket won't let me sign in so I am trying to change my password. Oh it gets worse!
I hope it will all be worth it eventually.
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I get days like that too ...in fact I get decades like that .....5 so far ... ::) ;D Just shout if you need help ... I won't hear you, but it may help !!!
cheers
Russ
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That must have been some size of parrot you had in there, Russ. And how could a wee face like that misbehave!
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It was my nephews ols parrot cage . He had a little Galah cockatoo which decided it didn't like anyone in the family so was sold ...lol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galah
But yes ...little Leanne is absolutely gorgeous , she is so lovely as is her little brother Jamie...
(http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc21/rustyme57/01062009924.jpg)
who also went in the cage for bad behaviour....lol..It seems like only yesterday I was chucking their dad in the air , reading him stories such as The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and singing him songs at bedtime..he's nearly 25 now. He was lovely too ...well he still is (and still comes for a cuddle from his uncle when things go wrong !! )
cheers
Russ
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Aha, our Rustyme has a soft side. ;) Real cute little lad is Jamie ;D
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Ok, so Rustyme is the child catcher!
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Just to tell you all, I've made my first wreath this year!
My friend is moving to her new house next weekend (after a very long wait) and I wanted to do something nice as a cottage-warming gift.
I used rolled up chicken wire (couldn't find a wire coat hanger) into a heart shape, and conifer, pine. holly, and ivy
(just dont try making yours sat on the floor with a mad german shepherd in the room! She's eaten the sticks, stolen the string, sat on the scissors, you name it.)
"the unbroken circle of the wreath represents the Pagan ‘Wheel of the Year’ or ‘Circle of Life’ that marks the changes of the seasons at the solstices and equinoxes.
An ancient belief concerning the pagan festival of Yule (21st Dec) is that the wheel of the year stops briefly on the day of the festival and it was considered taboo to turn a wheel or even a butter churn on this, the shortest day.
Yule is a time of peace which offers an opportunity to reflect on the year gone by from a point of stillness and , equally calmly, a chance to look forward to increasingly active months ahead.
The holly and ivy work in magical harmony to provide protection to any household with a Christmas wreath on the door.
Lutherian Christians adopted this pagan tradition by placing the wreath horizontally and decorating it with four candles to be lit as advent progressed.
The evergreen foliage represented the everlasting hope and life celebrated with the coming of Christ at Christmas."
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My dad professionally made wreath's for years. All I remember of Christmas for years as a child was the bits and pieces for making them. I would recommend these http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PACK-2-WIRE-WREATH-RING-FRAME-FLORIST-CHRISTMAS-CRAFT_W0QQitemZ190352823013QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Crafts_FloralSupplies_SM?hash=item2c51e992e5 (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PACK-2-WIRE-WREATH-RING-FRAME-FLORIST-CHRISTMAS-CRAFT_W0QQitemZ190352823013QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Crafts_FloralSupplies_SM?hash=item2c51e992e5) Which is what he always used. Rather than use Oasis (expensive) we used moss. I also remember some bloody cold days in November/ early December gathering moss! Used to go a place near Ladybank often. Anyway, pack the moss really tightly together between the two circles, use florist binding wire to wrap around it to hold it together. Use the short bits of florist wire again, to create a stem on the greenery, and then use the wire to push through the moss, then wrap back in so you're leaving no sharp bits of wire pointing out. Use whatever you think looks good, Dad used to use florist ribbon on them as well, and would make different ones with varigated holly, leylandii greenery, plain dark green holly, or holly with berries on.
Easy!
Beth
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I found the easiest way to make a wreath was to get a piece of that grey pipe insulation and coil it into a circle. Tape the ends together and you can then just push sprigs of holly etc into it !
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Here's mine that I made yesterday. The base is a metal ring from an old lampshade,
wrapped with ivy and fatsia berries wired on. Simple ;D
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a269/flipper66/IMG_1620.jpg)
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Now that is stunning, love that door as well, loks like an Old Church!!! I have an old Front door so dare not pin anything onto it so I do not have a wreath, although I did make one that hangs from the ceiling, it is an old light fitting that I covered in garlands etc...
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Sorry, I just don't like them. It's like somebody died there