Wreaths a natural decor item for autumn, holidays
A wreath on the door adds to the warm welcome inspired by autumn's harvest and bounty.
Wreaths these days come in as many styles and personalities as homes and homeowners. In fact, Barbara Ottolino of The Cultivated Choice in Arlington Heights, and Joan Kaufmann of Interior Planning & Design Inc. in Naperville, say they don't even have to go on the door or wall.
Ottolino likes to attach wreaths to the top of urns, creating a luscious frame for the display of flowers, grasses, wheat or pumpkins. It could even host a punch bowl for a party. And Kaufman uses hers for table centerpieces.
While Ottolino says wreaths of natural materials - skip the wired bow - are in fashion, she also acknowledges that live materials will not last very long and can be messy if guests brush against them on their way through the door. So she gives her OK for preserved and artificial items.
But what if you really want to put a touch of welcome on your front door and oops, there's a storm door in the way?
Kaufman said she has used tapestries on rods and metal decorations in that too-narrow space. And for the evergreen-insistent, she has concocted a swag with pine cones and ribbon.
Ottolino says it is often the supporting structure, such as grapevines or straw, that is too thick for the area between doors. Start with a single strand of rigid wire as a base, then bend thin, pliable branches around the wire. She twines or interweaves cuttings of colorful fall leaves.
"Be sure to include some items that have a bit of thickness or dimension, like sections of 'pumpkin branches' (ornamental eggplant). Cutting off just a section, and weaving or wiring it into the supporting structure deceives the eye into thinking there is more thickness/substance to the wreath than is really there. "
Be sure to measure the area between the doors so you know exactly how much space you do have, she said.
Ottolino loves to scrounge roadsides and vacant lots for natural materials, including grapevine, Osage oranges or hedge apples and grasses. Folks are often happy to see these materials gathered and taken away, she says.
She encourages people to find materials in their own yards and to trim evergreens properly - one-quarter inch above a bud or the V that is called a node.
Her favorite leaves are oak because they hold up the best. She will wire a few leaves together to use as a focal point on the wreath or cover the entire wreath with these clusters. Acorns can also be hot glued to wire that is coiled so there is enough room for the glue to hold to the wire. Then several clusters of acorns can be twisted together and wired to the frame.
"The backs of oak leaves are a gorgeous, velvety beige after frost," she said.
For a more formal appearance, Ottolino approves misting leaves and acorns with a bit of gold or copper paint.
Other favorites of hers are the red velvet pods of staghorn sumac, and pokeberry, whose berries don't fall off when they are acid green before ripening to purple.
If you want to use fresh flowers, she recommends roses and mums and tulips in season as choices that don't wilt quickly out of water. Ottolino also wraps stems in wet paper towels and tucks them into the wreath, often behind moss.
Kaufman relies on her florist for good bows for wreaths. And when it's time to make your Christmas season wreath, she said consider lighting it with battery-operated LED lights.