Simple Homemade Wreath Part 1 - Gathering and Preparing Fir Cones & Evergreens


One of my favourite ways to get the house feeling festive is to bring the outdoors in.  Luckily, living on the edge of a forest makes this pretty easy!  If you live in the city you might have to drive into the countryside to do your gathering - alternatively you can order evergreens and fir cones online, just do a simple internet search for what's available for delivery to your local area.


A couple weeks ago I took advantage of a dry and sunny afternoon - armed with a basket and a garden cutters.  As I said, i live on the edge of a forest in County Donegal, Ireland, and my garden literally merges with the forest so all I have to do is walk out my door and into the trees :-)



The first thing I spotted that I needed was fir cones, just lying there on the forest floor for me to gather.  One of my 'forest cats' Happy Monday came to see what I was up to...



Then I started to cut bits of holly, which grows in abundance here.



As it had been very stormy a few days previous I noticed branches from an evergreen tree were lying there on the ground, so I thought why not use them too?



Ivy - a beautiful yet destructive plant that wraps around anything it comes across.  I cut a few bits from the base of my favourite tree that is outside my bedroom window... Not wanting to sound crazy but I do get the impression She is a she, and somehow is aware of me too!




Once I'd gathered enough cones and bits of greenery, I brought the lot inside to sort out.  



The evergreen cuttings can simply be hung up somewhere dry.  I just wrapped bits of garden wire around the stalks and hung them from a string line I put up in the spare bedroom.  They have been hanging for about 3 weeks now and they haven't rotted or become mouldy, so as long as the place you hang them is dry there should be no problems.



With the fir cones I first picked all the 'bits' that were stuck to them...



I then cleaned them by soaking them in a basin with half water, half vinegar, for about 20 minutes, giving them a swish around every now and then...



I then lined a baking tray with foil and put the fir cones in.  I then covered them over with foil and popped them into a hot oven (about 200 degrees Celcius) for about 1 hour 30 minutes.  When fir cones are wet they are closed like this, but when properly dry they open up.



When the fir cones have dried and opened up, they are ready to use for whatever crafty things you want.  You can paint or spray them different colours, varnish them, or simply leave them natural as they are.



In part 2 I will be demonstrating how to make the wreath from all these bits we've gathered and prepared, so please stay tuned!


If you liked this post, please follow me for more seasonal healthy recipes and crafts throughout December!
 

Many thanks.
 

All photos in this post are my own original.
 

You can also follow me as Natural Health Mama at https://www.facebook.com/naturalhealthmamma and https://naturalhealthmamablog.wordpress.com/  


Logo kindly created for me by @papa-pepper

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Lovely. Thx for sharing. 😊

Going to miss doing this, this year - no fir trees or holly in EGYPT:( - love this time of the year getting 'natural' things to make christmas 'christmassy' -
Never knew to do this to fir cones - brilliant
Look forward to your next post :)

Egypt - at least you'll be warmer there... my hands are like ice right now!!! Thanks so much, I'll be posting part 2 soon!

I can't wait to see part 2!

Thank you! It will be soon... :-)

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