An Autumn Wreath Gathering

A few weekends ago I was lucky enough to teach my style of wreath making to a wonderful bunch of women (and even one man!). I took over the atmospheric workspace at Wattle and Daub, fittingly on the Autumn equinox. And filled the space with endless amounts of foliage and flowers foraged and dried by myself.

We started the evening with a glass of sparkling wine and I gave a simple demonstration into how you can weave your own wreath to your style using very simple techniques.

Image by Lulu from acupfullofdreams

Everyone selected their own wreath base, which had been made by myself using birch, hops and honeysuckle. There were plenty of sizes available and no one wreath base is the same which I feel helps with individuality. I hung flowers and foliage all around the room and filled baskets with fresh greens from the garden,

Foliage and flowers ready to work with

Whilst I shared my personal preferences with the classes, I encourage students to go with their instincts. My main advice was to not be afraid, mistakes can be easily undone and are often the path to finding your own style. And always to work with the foliage and flowers, if a branch is bending in a certain way go with it rather than trying to get it do something it doesn’t naturally want to.

It was fascinating to see how different the end results were, from both the shape and the colours and content. By the end of the workshops we had full wreaths, asymmetrical wreaths and even a wreath made from entirely fresh flowers and foliage. And this is exactly how I like it, my style is unique and I want to allow everyone who attends a workshop of mine to have the freedom to find their own style. There are no prescribed formulas to my wreath making, anything goes and everything is celebrated.

Happy students!

Some Thank-yous

I have a say a couple of huge thank you’s to Gemma from Wattle and Daub, for being the most wonderful host and incredible support me since I started Botanical Tales. Her shop is amazing and the workshop space is simply magical! To Lulu, who came along and took so many beautiful photos of the second evening, your support and friendship means so much. And to my wonderful husband who spent hours foraging with me and packed up my little fiat 500 on both nights til flowers were exploding out the sides. I know I don’t show it but I would be lost without you.

Wonderful image by Lulu from acupfullofdreams

Winter Wreath Workshops

My next workshop dates are live on the website here, go take a look here and do sign up if you think you’d like to make your own wreath this year instead of buying one. The cost is pretty much the same, but you get an amazing experience as well as a wreath to take home!

oh and PS, its a pretty good night out too!