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."