Wreath Making!

Click here to see how to make a coat hanger Christmas wreath.


November thankful poem/song:


How much is that doggie in the window? (arf! arf!)

The one with the waggley tail

How much is that doggie in the window? (arf! arf!)

I do hope that doggie's for sale

Bob Merrill (click here to go to wiki) - Sung by Patti Page (click here to go to YouTube)

I'm grateful for Morgan and all the dogs in my life.


* Click On Photos To Enlarge *

Decorations and the base from last year's Christmas wreath.

How to make a DIY homemade pine Christmas wreath.

Today I walked around the property looking for different kinds of pine trees and taking photos. All I could find were cedar and white pine and this was the best photo of the cut cedar. No red pine! I was hoping to find red pine too because I think the wreath bundles look better with three kinds of pine and the red pine stays fresh longer so I like to put it on the top of the bundle sometimes. Instead of cutting the trees down I just went around and cut off the tips of the branches. White pine and cedar are OK, but they don't last as long as the red pine and I don't have any spray to help keep them from getting dried out. It has been very dry this year and the white pine is dry and thin looking.

One pile of cedar tips and one of white pine tips.

This photo shows how the tips are about the same length as the glove.

I use my glove as a guide when I'm out clipping the tips off the branches. It is important that the tips of the branches are all the same length. I hold the branch with the end of the branch at my finger tips and cut at the cuff edge. Not to stress! If later I find the tips are too long I just make sure the tops all line up fairly well and clip off the ends that are too long. But, if the tips are all pretty much the same length it makes bundle making much faster and easier. Some people gauge the cutting by the length of their spread hand from tip of little finger to tip of thumb. That's about 8 inches.

Next year when I make this wreath I will try making all the ten bundles up before I start adding them to the wreath. That way I will be able to tell more easily if they are the same size and putting the wreath together may go faster.

One bundle ready to be clamped.

For this wreath I started layering white pine tips in my left hand and then layered cedar tips on top. I stop when I can just overlap my thumb over the fingernail on my pointer finger. I like to try making bundles with different kinds of pine and alternating kinds of bundles. First a bundle of cedar, then white, etc., experiment making bundles and find what works.

First bundle clamped.

It is harder to use pliers to fold the prongs over. Usually I use a foot operated clamp. The photo shows the prongs are set around the base about a finger length apart. I am careful not to get the ends of the bundle in the next set of prongs. When I make up my own base out of coat hangers I will keep the same spacing between the bundles. You can see how the next bundle will overlap the bundle that is already clamped.

Almost done.

Finished. Well except for the decorations.

I could have used Christmas ornament, dried flowers or seed pods. I was thinking it would be fun to decorate a wreath for a dog owner and add dog toys or other items that people like.

It was getting dark and the chicken coop was the place with the most sunlight. And yes, I asked Morgan to stay there. I think she wonders what I'm doing. Morgan is clean and white! She just got back from the groomer!

Thursday I will try making a wreath using coat hangers as a base along with wire to anchor the bundles. That will be an experiment. Hope it works. I'll try! Back to work tomorrow.

Click here to see how to make a coat hanger Christmas wreath.

[2 eggs today]

The chickens have been locked up since the fox attack.

They want out!

Smiles

~:>