The Sunday Project: A pretty springtime wreath

The Farmhouse door was in need of something besides a new coat of paint.

Periodically I get crazy ideas of projects that are fun and add a nice touch to things, all the while the supper dishes need washing and the laundry folded and the floor swept of crumbs from yesterday. I understand that that's how it is in houses of creative people, and if that is so, our house is no different. This past Sunday I dreamed up "The Sunday Project" to get out of clearing off the stairwell of a few still-hanging-around Christmas decorations. Ha. They'll get put away this week when I am looking for the Easter baskets. I hope.

About a week ago I went for a walk around the farm, hoping to catch a glimpse of pussy willows in bloom. I often am quite busy in the spring, and by the time I get to looking for them they are long past blooming and are gone. This year I am in luck - and so are you! Below you can catch a glimpse of the "Back Forty" - land that was part of the farm when I was growing up, and which now belongs to one of my sisters. As her land abuts the acreage surrounding the Farmhouse, it was a short and very pretty walk to find the pussy willows.

I did actually create a bouquet of the pussy willows, but they also had me thinking about what else I could make with them. The front door of the Farmhouse certainly needed some cheer and a wreath was the perfect solution. On Sunday I took another walk around the farm - through the maple woods, across the east fields, and then back to the wildlife pond and the willow trees to pick some more pussy willow branches. Because I was going to create a wreath, I wanted branches of varying colors and textures and collected green willow branches, red dogwood, brown maple tree shoots, and even some prickly wild raspberry canes along with the fuzzy pussy willow branches, as you can see in the bucket below. That photo and a few of the others are from the Instagram story I posted on Sunday as I did the project.

The wreath was actually quite easy - if just a little messy - to make. It took longer to collect and soak the stems than it did to assemble them into something pretty for the door. Here's how I did it:

I foraged for the stems, looking for various textures and colors. I also wanted lengths of stems that could be twisted into the wreath shape, so the stems I cut were around a yard (a meter) long. The few shorter ones were tucked in as I wove the wreath or were used in another bouquet. You certainly can purchase stems from a nursery or even a grocer or gift shop that sells them at this time of year. Look for natural ones, as stems that have been preserved might not tolerate soaking or twist well.

After the stems were collected, I placed them in a deep sink of warm water and allowed them to soak for about 30 minutes. Soak them up to about an hour if necessary. If you don't have a large sink available, you can use your kitchen sink or even a large bucket; allow the stems that fit into the container to soak in the water until they are pliable, and then bend the part that has soaked to allow more of the stems to get wet until the whole stems are soaking. That process just takes a little more patience.

Question: Do you get the fuzzy pussy willows wet? Answer: They get rained on, don't they??

Since the green willow stems were the longest, I started by twisting them into a circular shape to use as a wreath base.

Then the stems are added as desired by tucking the heaviest end between the stems in the ring and weaving through the ring and around it, tucking the lighter stem end(s) into the ring or just leaving the interesting ends loose off the side of the wreath for interest. Here's a look at the wreath in process:

This is the part of wreath making that I find the most fun. As I am weaving, I am looking at the overall composition. I might remove a stem completely and try another one. I might try having the fine ends of the stems tucked in and then decide that they look better left out a bit. I might trim longer, larger ends as I tucked them through a little too far when I started weaving with them. And all along the way I am shaping the wreath with my hands, making it more round and smoothing out the stems to create a pretty final product.

When the wreath was about the size and shape I was looking for, I began adding the pussy willow branches. Some were longer and required weaving around the wreath and some could just be tucked in. Again, I shaped the wreath and did a little more trimming before I proclaimed it complete. It turned out pretty well, don't you think?

As the wreath dries, those pussy willow fuzzies will probably drop off, especially as they get brushed against as people go in and out of the door. That's OK. I'll get around to sweeping them up off the floor. The wreath will have a little different, more rustic look, and if I don't like the empty branches, I can soak the wreath and tuck them in, trimming if I have to. As the season progresses, I might add a bow or dried flowers to the wreath and quite possibly have it last all summer long.

Here's how it looks on the door right now:

Let me know if you'd like to learn how to make a wreath like this one.
I'd love to teach you how to make one that could last through the seasons!