As the garden calms down, the shops and stores fill up with Christmas decorations and chocolate Santas. Of course, a pretty Advent wreath should not be missing for the right Christmas ambience. With these instructions you can easily tie your own Advent wreath without a blank.
Tie your own Advent wreath
An Advent wreath brings cosiness into the home and increases the anticipation of the festival. In the hectic pre-Christmas period, people like to use a purchased copy. A wreath like this can quickly become expensive. Binding is not as difficult as many think. And you don't even have to resort to a purchased blank. With a little patience, creativity and the right materials, you can tie your own individual Advent wreath for little money.
blank
Most Advent wreaths are tied using a blank, such as straw, polystyrene or branches. This is the basis and later provides stability for the candles and the decoration. Such a blank is also suitable for a hanging wreath, for example a door wreath.
But even without a blank, you can tie a stable wreath with candles. However, choosing the right cut greens is crucial. Solid types of brushwood are ideal for a wreath without a blank, for example:
- fir green
- spruce green
- pine branches
You can also complement your wreath with deciduous trees such as ivy or holly branches. cypress, such as B. thuja or juniper, are also good, as they do not dry out so quickly. When tying without a blank, you should still rely on a basic structure made of coniferous trees, as these offer better stability.
Thuja is a suitable addition to the Advent wreath
Tying an Advent wreath without a blank
Materials needed
- Suitable brushwood
- Gloves (the branches are sometimes prickly)
- secateurs
- Green Floral Wire
- Candles and candlesticks
- Decoration as desired (cones, cinnamon sticks, holly branches, etc.)
As an alternative to conventional candles, you can also use LED candles. If you still want conventional candlelight on your wreath, you should use candles never blow out. Sparks can get on the branches or the decoration and ignite the wreath. Smother the flame with one instead candle snuffer. Leave the candles on the wreath never unattended burn.
Tying the Advent wreath correctly: instructions
Step 1: Prepare the brushwood
For sufficient stability, it is advisable to make the individual fir branches smaller bouquets to tie together This may seem a bit time-consuming in advance, but it makes your work with the actual tying a lot easier.
Take the fir branches and shorten them to about 10-15 cm. Now tie the individual branches together with the floral wire to form small bouquets. These should consist of about 4-7 branches, depending on how bushy you want your advent wreath to be. Depending on the desired size of the Advent wreath, prepare more or fewer bouquets. Don't worry if there aren't enough bouquets to tie. You can tie small bouquets at any time
tip: When tying, use green floral wire. This is hardly noticeable between the dark needles.
Step 2: Tie bouquets together
Once you have prepared a few bouquets, the actual wreath-making begins. To do this, place one bouquet on top of another in a clockwise direction and tie it to the stem with the wire:
- Tie the wire tightly around the branches in several rounds
- Otherwise branches may slip out
- Do not tie too tightly, the wire can tear or "pinch off" the branch
- Do not cut wire
Continue like this with all your fir bouquets until you have reached the desired wreath size. Be sure to align all branches in the same direction. In order to get the round shape later, you should bend unruly twigs into the desired shape from time to time. The wire should when tyingnot cut off become, but always remain in one piece. Therefore, simply lay the wire down before proceeding.
The previous wires are covered by the arrangement of the branches in the form of roof tiles or fish scales. Then place the last bouquet over the first and tie it so tight that you can no longer see the wire. You can then trim the wreath. If necessary, simply cut off protruding branch tips.
Step 3: Decorate
Your wreath is now ready to be decorated. To do this, place the four candlesticks on the wreath. The areas where the branches are wrapped with wire offer the best stability.
Depending on your preference and individual taste, you can decorate the wreath with various cones, nuts, cinnamon sticks, sticks of wood, dried apple or orange slices, star anise or holly berries. There are no limits to your imagination. Let yourself be inspired by nature on your next walk through the forest or garden.
The decorative elements can also be attached with wire or glued on with a hot glue gun.
notice: Some decorations, such as holly berries, can be poisonous. In such cases, you should make sure that the wreath is not accessible to children and pets.
Make the Advent wreath last
So that you can enjoy your personal Advent wreath for a long time, you should take the following measures into account:
- Spray regularly with cold water
- Alternatively: place the wreath in a shallow dish with water
- Do not place directly on a heater or stove
- Heat promotes drying out and the wreath needles
- Keep in a cool place overnight, such as balcony, patio, bedroom
- Remove dry branches: risk of fire!
notice: Spraying the branches with hairspray is often recommended for longer durability. This measure should only apply to wreaths without an open fire be applied. Hairspray is highly flammable and encourages the wreath to catch fire.