Making a sustainable wreath base?
Holiday season means CRAFT, and I always make a Christmas wreath for the front door. This year, I gave myself a challenge: sourcing materials from my garden, and the whole thing must be compostable!
If you are looking for a sustainable way of making your wreath, you landed in the right place!
In this article, I will show you how to make a sustainable wreath base.
What you need
- vines (anything available around you)
- twine (natural materials)
- garden/ikebana shears
- scissors
How to make a sustainable wreath base
Before you start
Look around for any vines you have in your garden. People often use grape vines, but only some people grow them in their yards. Since I don’t have any, I am going to use bean vines instead.
Step 1: Gather materials for a wreath base
Gather all the materials you need, including untwisting the vines off any structure.
Tip: Try to keep the vines as long as possible.
Step 2: Weave
Hold 3~4 vines together, and make a circle. During the process I gave a few twists so the vines would snuggle nicely.
There is no need to cut any excess vines, just do another round until the end. When you reach the end, weave the end pieces into the circle you just made.
Once you are done, tie that part with twine. Wrap it at least 3 times around since it is holding the whole thing together.
Final Step: Finish weaving the sustainable wreath base
Choose a couple of long vines. To begin with, weave one end of the additional pieces through the wreath. Then start coiling around the base.
When you are coiling, make sure to wrap around any pieces that are sticking out. Once you reach the end, weave it into the base.
You need to repeat this process until you are happy with its thickness. I was able to make two wreaths out of the pile!
Tip: Each time you add some vine, overlap them (10cm/4inches).
Mission Accomplished!
It’s so funny that sometimes a dreading thing can lead to a positive outcome. Although I enjoyed the beautiful beans, they grew so tall, and I didn’t have the time to take them down until today.
It turned out to be a very good thing! If I had pulled them for composting earlier in the year, I wouldn’t have been able to make the base for the beautiful Christmas wreath!
Now, I am going to grow climbing beans annually to make wreaths! It is one of the must-have veggies in your garden. For eating & crafting!