How to make.....Christmas Door Deco

I love Christmas, I love everything about it, the lead up especially when my daughter and I start making bits and pieces to decorate the house.  We love gathering and foraging for greenery from the garden and the woods. I much prefer to fill our home with natural, homemade decorations made from stuff we have found on dog walks down the lane, in the forest or at the beach.  Its something I learnt from my mother who always filled our home at Christmas with masses of conifer, Holly, Ivy and Laurel turning it from a 70's mock Georgian 3 bed into a magical Bavarian mountain chalet, or so it felt to a starry eyed 5 year old.  Not only is it great fun collecting and sorting through your finds, you get a wonderful sense of achievement when you create something beautiful from a bunch of damp undergrowth and it makes the whole house smell AMAZING! And best of all its free!

Today we made a simple door decoration from just a few bits we found in the garden.  It took about 15 minutes to make and provided its on the outside of the door it should stay looking lovely until Twelfth night. Heres how to make it:

I used some bendy sticks ....easy to find this time of year now the leaves have fallen (I used lilac) some ivy, an apple, (crab apples are perfect if you are lucky enough to have a tree) some berries and I had a couple of hydreangia heads that have survived, but fur cones would be just as good.  You will also need some wire or some gardeners string and a piece of ribbon to embelish!



So take some of the longest and bendiest sticks and make two loops to form a heart shape holding the ends in one hand where they come down to join up.  Secure with some gardeners wire so they don't spring apart.  Strengthen further up with some twine if you need to do this see below. My twig heart is very simple but the more twigs you use the more dramatic the look.  (It may take a little longer that 10 minutes depending how many twigs you use),





Take another handful of sticks about 15 - 20'' long and secure at the top to form a bundle.  Trim the top so its neat if you need to. Tie tightly with a long piece of twine and then tie this firmly to the heart shape at the bottom where it is secured.






 Start adding your greenery to the join with gardeners wire building it up until it covers all the wire and twine.  Finally tie with a ribbon.  I have used a gingham ribbon which can be stained with a used tea bag to give it a more vintage look, but I like the clashing brightness of the red against my grey/blue door!  Alternatively cut up strips of hessian sacking for a rustic look or simply use a red satin ribbon for a traditional look.