{"id":982,"date":"2009-12-05T18:52:41","date_gmt":"2009-12-05T22:52:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/heidiannie.com\/?p=982"},"modified":"2009-12-05T18:52:41","modified_gmt":"2009-12-05T22:52:41","slug":"making-boxwood-wreaths-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/?p=982","title":{"rendered":"Making Boxwood Wreaths #2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Boxwood<\/a> Remember this post<\/a> where I said making boxwood wreaths is fun and easy?<\/p>\n

I wasn’t telling the WHOLE truth.  Making boxwood wreaths is fun but it isn’t always easy.  The wreath I showed then was a makeshift one, put together quickly and placed where no one will touch it until time to throw it out.  And that wreath-although it will dry nicely- cannot be used another year, because it was just loosely wired into place and has no real stamina.<\/p>\n

I felt guilty acting all craftsy without telling and showing you how to make a boxwood wreath the more formal and accurate way.<\/p>\n

I am using the boxwood we cut in Chincoteague.  I left it outside and it has been cool enough that it hasn’t dried out yet.<\/p>\n

You will need a pair of wire\/plant shears, thin gauge wire,  a wreath frame, green ribbon and about 2 1\/2 hours to complete this wreath.<\/p>\n

\"Boxwood<\/a> <\/p>\n

Don’t quit yet.  Put on some Christmas music, brew yourself a cup of tea and create a little Christmas beauty and cheer.<\/p>\n

\"Boxwood<\/a> Cut your boxwood into small pieces with several branches -making a lot of tips.<\/p>\n

\"Boxwood<\/a> You will need a LOT of tips, cut to about 6 inches long.<\/p>\n

\"Boxwood<\/a> <\/p>\n

\"Boxwood<\/a> Gather them together, arranging them by size and direction, rather like a bouquet- face the fronts of the leaves to the front so that they match. <\/p>\n

\"Boxwood<\/a>Then close your palm around them and hold them tight,\"Boxwood<\/a> \"Boxwood<\/a> <\/p>\n

So that you can wire them into a tight little bundle.<\/p>\n

\"Boxwood<\/a>  <\/p>\n

You will need many bundles.  Only use enough wire to hold them together and twist it tightly, because you need a long wire left over to go around the wreath form.(about 8-10 inches long)<\/p>\n

\"Boxwood<\/a> I used a straw form that I’ve had for too many years to count.  But you could use grapevine or a wire form.  Take off the plastic wrapping and wrap the wreath with ribbon.  It helps to hold the wreath together and  makes it easier  to handle.<\/p>\n

\"Boxwood<\/a>Then, start to wire your boxwood bundles onto the wreath-<\/p>\n

\"Boxwood<\/a>and wrap the ribbon securely over the wired end, locking it into place.<\/p>\n

\"Boxwood<\/a> <\/p>\n

\"Boxwood<\/a> Add the next bundle next to the first, wire it into place and wrap with ribbon again.<\/p>\n

\"Boxwood<\/a> Keep adding more bundles, filling in the space and covering all the bases with ribbon.\"Boxwood<\/a> <\/p>\n

You need to cinch the ribbon tightly so that it gives the bundles and the wreath added support.<\/p>\n

This goes a lot faster than it sounds.  Most of the time spent making the wreath is put into cutting and making the bundles of boxwood.<\/p>\n

\"Boxwood<\/a> Don’t worry about covering the back side- the nice thing about wreaths is that you are not going to see the back when it is on display.<\/p>\n

\"Boxwood<\/a> <\/p>\n

Now, add a big bow and hang it up in a prominent place.<\/p>\n

Because YOU made it!<\/p>\n

\"Boxwood<\/a> FYI- no animals or insects were hurt in the making of this tutorial.  I found a cocoon on one of the stems and took it outside and gently put it into the protection of an arborvitae tree.<\/p>\n

This wreath will dry perfectly and if packed carefully can be used for several years to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Remember this post where I said making boxwood wreaths is fun and easy? I wasn’t telling the WHOLE truth.  Making boxwood wreaths is fun but it isn’t always easy.  The wreath I showed then was a makeshift one, put together … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crafts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}