It is wreath-making time at From the Summer's Garden. We make wreaths from 100% dried flowers and herbs from this summer's garden. We also decorate homemade wreath bases with silks and other real-looking florals to seasonalize the wreaths. These wreaths are made from natural materials which do not last forever. Just as a flower arrangement fades and withers, so do these wreaths. Eventually the best thing to do is to toss out an old wreath and replace with a new one. There are several things you can do to revive and refresh these wreaths:
1. Lay the wreath on a table covered with plastic. Look over the wreath and remove anything that is no longer a thing of beauty- perhaps a leaf has turned brown or a blossom has broken from a stem. Remove anything that does not look good. If what you are removing is small, you will probably not even notice that is is missing. If what you have removed is larger and leaves a hole, replace or touch up areas around the read with new pieces of dried flowers. If they have stems you can simply stick them into the existing wreath. if they are flat blossoms you willed to use a hot glue gun to accomplish this.
2. With the wreath still laying on the plastic surface, go around the wreath "fluffing" or re-postioning to improve the look of the components of the wreath. Be gentle and move slowly. The process is hard on the dried materials and it will make a bit of a mess. That is why you do this on a sheet of plastic for easier clean-up.
3.. Mix a 50/50 solution of liquid fabric softener and warm water and fill up a spray bottle. Carefully lay your wreath face down on a sheet of plastic and liberally spray the back of the wreath and sides, inside and out. Then, overturn the wreath so the front is facing upwards and spray the front- everything on the wreath. Allow the wreath to absorb the moisture overnight and rehang. It may be slightly damp but that is OK.
4. Carefully take the wreath down once a month and spray with a fine mist of just plain water. this will remove air borne dust and refresh the dried materials. You will also reactivate the natural scents of the plant materials this way.
We will have a wide selection of natural and seasonal wreaths at KOOL YULE coming up in November.
