Handmade Wreaths Are An Enduring Salute To The Season

By Nancy K. Crevier

Hung upon the door, a circular wreath of evergreens signifies everlasting life, unending love, good will, and prosperity, and serves as a symbol of welcome to all who enter. For many Americans, the Christmas season without a wreath would be as dismal as Christmas without a tree, and for some, the pursuit of the perfect wreath is a passion.

A double-faced balsam wreath is most commonly sold during the holiday season, said Eugene Reelick, owner of Hollandia Gift, Garden & Patio on Route 6. But for the discerning wreath shopper, wreaths made on-site from local greens are a popular option.

“People want the look of the individualized wreath,” said Mr Reelick, and with Hollandia employee Garry Ober’s 25 years of experience making custom wreaths, Hollandia is able to provide the lush alternative wreath enthusiasts crave.

The handcrafted wreaths are made up of a variety of greens collected locally. Freshly cut branches of blue spruce, white pine, golden cypress, Douglas fir, and juniper are supplemented with deciduous holly berries, pine cones, German boxwood, and glossy camellia leaves to create naturally beautiful wreaths. Knowing that the branches were cut recently means that the customer can rest assured that the evergreens will remain fresh well beyond the holiday season.

Churches and other organizations often need very fresh wreaths that will last throughout the Advent and Christmas season in less than optimum indoor conditions, and both Mr Reelick and Mr Ober agreed that the ultrafresh wreath crafted in the store is ideal for those situations.

The process of creating one of the custom wreaths is time-consuming and labor intensive, but the result is extraordinary compared to wreaths purchased from a big box store, said Mr Reelick. Greens are cut from fallen trees and bushes on the Hollandia property, or when area residents call to let them know a tree has been felled. Those greens are then trimmed to the proper size and sorted. A thick bunch of mixed greens is bound together, and this is where the eye of an experienced wreath maker comes into play. Knowing which greens complement each other and the variety to use to alter the texture and density of the wreath is a skill that comes with practice. The stems of the bundle are centered between a pair of wire “jaws” on the ring, then using a foot-operated fastener, the wires are clamped about the mixed greens. To make sure that the greens stay put, a final tap of the clamps with a hammer sets the bunch in place. This is repeated numerous times around the ring, depending on the size of the finished wreath, with each bundle overlapping the next. One wreath can take anywhere from half and hour to several hours to complete.

Mixed greens are so interesting on their own that Hollandia customers rarely feel the need to add artificial decorations. “We do whatever people want, but most feel that all they need is a bow,” said Mr Ober.

Customers also like that a made-to-order wreath means that the perfect size can be ordered, and Hollandia is happy to make any wreath on a ring as small as eight inches in diameter all the way up to a five-foot ring that provides a wreath with a spread of over six feet in diameter.

“The wreath is traditional,” said Mr Reelick, “and also a personal thing. You can’t buy a premade wreath with the same character.”

Steven Fancher of Shakespeare’s Garden at 25 South Obtuse Road on the Brookfield/Newtown border, where his wife Kasia is the primary wreath maker, also said that a handcrafted wreath is definitely a personal item. Customers at Shakespeare’s Garden can gather ideas from the sample wreaths that decorate the property, but many bring in their own suggestions for a customized wreath.

“The big factor in a wreath like this is the freshness,” said Mr Fancher. “A wreath made on-site won’t drop its needles so quickly or alter color, and the fresh scent is almost overwhelming. The higher quality greens appeal to people, and the fun thing for us is to be able to individualize a wreath to match each personality. People see the wreaths we have made, then they get ideas and tweak them to make them their own,” he said.

While the traditional circular wreath remains most popular, Shakespeare’s Garden offers wreaths made on square and star- or tree-shaped rings, as well, always using greens harvested from the garden center’s property and landscaping jobs.

Kasia Fancher has only been making wreaths for two years, but her eye for design and natural ability make it an enjoyable process, she said. Selecting the right branch and the right combination is important, Mr Fancher pointed out. “There’s a knack to angling the bunches on the ring for the proper effect,” he said.

A simple handmade wreath is comparable in price to one that is store-bought, said Mr Fancher, “but the quality is substantially better.”

Newtown resident Patty Graves takes her wreath making very personally, and would not dream of placing a flimsily fashioned one on any of her doors during the holiday season.

“I learned to make wreaths from my father,” said Ms Graves. “He would make a big one for the farmhouse in Watertown. When I was younger, I remember my sister, Nancy, making the wreath for our front door, and she would take a wire clothes hanger and form that into a circle to use as her base.”

While admiring her sister’s craftiness, Ms Graves’ wreaths utilize metal rings purchased from a craft store, and which can be reused each year. She clip the greens for her wreaths from her Boggs Hill Road property and fills a wheelbarrow to overflowing. That gives her enough greenery to make a front door wreath and a large wreath that hangs on her garage. She has even made a wreath entirely out of holly branches trimmed from the hedge that borders her garage.

“By making my own wreath, it lasts so long. If I make the wreaths a few weeks early, I lay them in my garden to stay fresh and moist until it is time to hang them up,” said Ms Graves.

She has picked up some tips during the 25 years that she has been making wreaths. Her greatest discovery, she said, was that of the plastic cable ties to hold the bunches of greens together and onto the ring. Before that, she hand-wired each bunch to the ring, a much more time-consuming job with less reliable results.

Decorating the finished wreaths is easy, as she usually opts for just one big, red bow.

She does try to adhere to one rule each winter, though: “I have a friend with whom we have ‘wreath patrol’ rules. According to us, your wreaths should be up on your door by the day of the town Holiday Festival house tour,” she said, “mostly so you when you come home from that beautiful tour you don’t feel so behind on holiday preparations,” she laughed. And finally, “wreath patrol” rules state that every wreath must come down by Valentine’s Day. “There’s nothing worse,” she added, “than seeing a yellowed, dead wreath hanging on a door at Easter.”

Hollandia will offer a demonstration of wreath making, Monday, December 7, at 10 am, for those who want the hands-on experience of creating a wreath with a personal touch. For more information, call 203-792-0268.

Call Shakespeare’s Garden at 203-775-2214 for information on several upcoming holiday decoration demonstrations.