How I Spent A Crafty Monday

One of the things I love about the spot we vacation in Boonville is the oaks covered with the lichen Old Man's Beard. It's wispy and rather romantic and I love the way it covers the oaks around our cabin. As we took walks and hikes, I collected small branches and twigs covered with the lichen. I was feeling particularly clever and crafty thought about making a wreath from it. Part of my new life changes - to get more creative and crafty. I did however, have the forethought that I had never made a wreath, attempted a wreath or thought about making a wreath before. I went in with high hopes and no clue.

I started by buying a round wire wreath form from Michael's and green 24 and 20 gauge wire. It seemed right and wasn't too expensive. This holiday morning, with my creative juices flowing, I  decided to tackle the project. I'm really happy with how it turned out and, wonderfully enough, I chose the perfect medium for my first wreath. Old Man's Beard is very forgiving stuff. It tucks in and sticks where you want it to, its great at covering the green wires and wire form and it looks really pretty when done. Now I just need to go back to Boonville to collect more....



 

I organized the sticks and twigs by size

I started wrapping the larger branches with the heavier wire. Videos weren't much help but they did show me to keep the wire going in a continuous spiral. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the middle of the process (there was a kiddo needing attention at the time) but I used the smaller wire  (using the same spiral wrapping around and in between) to wrap the smaller twigs over the larger sticks. I finished the wreath by tucking small bits of old man's beard and small twigs into the spaces between the sticks and twigs in order to cover the green wire.

 

Hanging on the front door - this isn't the greatest picture. I'll try to get a better one. I think it needs sunlight or a better camera.

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