Christmas wreaths

I love making Christmas decorations, and these wreaths are a crafty twist on a classic.

I used this wool to wrap around a polystyrene base. The smaller base only needs around 30g of wool, so it's a great way to use up scraps. You'll need more if you use a thinner yarn.

Use a pin to secure the first part of the yarn.

Keep going around the ring, keeping the yarn tight. You might want to use a few extra pins to hold it in place, but you shouldn't need to put too many in. I used half a dozen for the whole ring.

Because of the shape of the ring, you might need to pull the yarn a little tighter on the inside to make it lie smooth.

Finish and secure with another pin. Tuck the end of the yarn in.

Cut another piece of yarn and loop this around...this will be what you hang the wreath with. (You can use this to cover up any loose ends of yarn).

Two colours of yarn are also effective - use traditional Christmas reds and greens, or go for something more unusual. My orange and yellow wreath is more autumnal than Christmassy, but it fits nicely with the colours in my house.

And to decorate! I made 'flowers' by cutting three circles of felt, and stitching them together with a button in the middle. You could cut flower shapes, use buttons on their own, or use flowers made of silk or paper.

I used curling ribbon to fill in the gaps between my flowers. Cut several short strips and tie them around the ring, then use scissors to 'curl' the ribbon.

On my larger garland, I used crocheted flowers instead. These take a bit more effort to make but add to the rustic feel of this wreath. I used curling ribbon again, and the bow on the top is ribbon with a wire edge.

At the moment all the elements are secured with pins. Once I've decided that I'm happy with the placement, I'll use a glue gun to make sure they are well and truly stuck on.

Happy crafting!

Kate x