For years, I've been saying I'll make my own Christmas wreath, and for about as many years, I've been dutifully ignoring it. I just never could be bothered, somehow. It always seemed like a hassle, like there wasn't a moment, like time was already busy slipping away.
Well, this year, I found time.
The wreaths practically jumped out at me through the rain a few days ago, trudging along, and I stopped in at the local florist's to inquire. Now, it took some finagling to convince the florist I actually wanted the simple, unadorned ones, instead of the ones in all sorts of colorful, jarring bows. It's just not my style. I got one for my own home, one for my mum's, and one for my aunt's, which turned out to be perfect, since neither of them had bothered.
The next day, I set to work stocking up on some of my favorite winter things (oranges, cinnamon sticks, and pine cones), and prepping them for the wreath.
Now, you'll want to lay out the wreath on something, or you'll make quite a pine-y mess. You'll also want to set apart some serious time for drying the oranges in the oven (by far the longest, most irksome part of the process). On the other hand, easily the nicest-smelling one.
You want to slice out as many oranges as you think is necessary. You don't want the slices to be too thick - half an inch, tops - so you'll get 5-7 slices off an orange, depending on the orange. Now, how many slices you use is entirely up to you - if you want your wreath to be more quiet and minimalist, or prefer a nice, full wreath.
Slice and pat dry with a kitchen towel to absorb excess moisture. Ideally. If you don't do every slice, it won't be the end of the world.
My oven was already heated from lunch, so it was definitely hotter in there than needs be when I started. You want your oven temperature to be 90-100C, not more. It may be tempting to set higher, but thin orange slices burn very easily, so beware.
Lay the oranges out on a tray lined with baking paper, and set to the oven. The whole process will take about 2 hours, 2 hours and a half, depending on oven, so find something to do (that allows you to come flip the orange slices every 30 minutes or so, to avoid burning. I alternated between top+bottom heating and fan, but found little difference in how the oranges "cooked".
Beware: the house will smell amazing.
In the meantime, you can also start adding little other things to the wreath, which is what I did, as I am quite impatient.
Tip: Use thin wire (I got one that was green, so as to better blend with the wreath) and good cutting pliers (if that's what they're called in English). You can also use rope, if you prefer, but it'll be more noticeable. Glueing didn't work much for me, so I wouldn't recommend it.
Cinnamon Sticks
I found the best way to wire cinnamon sticks was to pass the wire through the hollow part inside the little tube of cinnamon, leaving a little extra wire at both ends, which I then twisted around the small branches. They're very light, so hold quite well with only a little twisting necessary.
Pine Cones
With pine cones, you want to wrap a generous piece of wire through one of the bigger layers at the bottom, and another around the top of the cone. Since these are quite heavy, they risk dragging down the pine and ripping it, so it's smart to have two wraps.
I also wanted to use holly, but the florist's was closed that night, and I couldn't find it anywhere else. If I find some in my path later today, I'll add it to my wreath. You can get creative with what you use - dried figs, Christmas tree ornaments, whatever appeals.
Look how nicely these turned out:
Now, I know traditionally, you should keep it on the table and light a candle for every Sunday of the advent, but personally, I had already missed the first Sunday (I hung it after midnight on Nov. 30th), and I thought it'd look nicer hung. I don't know yet, I may change my mind before the next Sunday and take it down, dot some candles in it, and do it the old-fashioned way, who knows?
All in all, I had fun with this little decoration project.
