Brilliant parenting & lifestyle blogger, model & muddy mum, Jess of Model Mother has kindly agreed to share with us how to make a lovely spring wreath - we will definitely add it to our spring to-do list! ❣️
Read on and enjoy a couple of beautiful pictures of the adorable 3-year-old Eliana (looking cute in our leafy Puddlepac jacket and wellies!) and having fun in the great outdoors.
I think we can all collectively agree that having endured what has felt like one of the longest winters in British history, the arrival of spring, which has happened so suddenly, bringing a burst of vitality with it, is worth making a bit of a fuss about. Along with spring cleaning and the satisfying unearthing of forgotten summer clothes and garden toys, this season is all about reconnecting with the outdoors and celebrating the sudden abundance of nature. This is the first spring we’re spending in our new home, aptly called Spring House, and our first spring living as a family outside of London. Living in the middle of ancient woodland in rural Hertfordshire is quite a contrast to living in a Victorian flat in Lambeth, most noticeably at times when the seasons turn because now we see it happen right outside our window, almost overnight. Something we have started doing since leaving city life behind us, is making seasonal wreaths. We are so much more in tune with the seasons here and it’s our way of harnessing their glory, blending our house with the environment and exercising our creativity as a whole family. It helps that there is a wealth of greenery on our doorstep to take our pick from so first up, a forage in the woods to see what we can use. The branches of the large, unruly holly bushes across the road from our house are pliable and keep their greenness, perfect for a fresh spring look so we’ve used them as our base but any bendy branches will do. We try to use as few non-natural products as possible so while florist wire can be handy we find that with a little patience and tenacity it’s more satisfying to twist, weave and bend the branches together to interlock and create a secure base. The shape doesn’t need to be a perfect circle but we’ve recently bought these metal rings* to help define the shape which we can use every season. In fact, the plan is to create the holly branch base and then re-use it season upon season, adding fresh foliage and flowers as and when they come into their own. For a quick, simple look you don’t even need to build up a base. These metal rings can be decorated with a few sprigs of whatever takes you fancy, whether it’s eucalyptus or rosemary for a beautiful scent or just-blooming blossom branches and seasonal flowers either from the garden, florist or market. We started with the grey-green foliage of the eucalyptus and olive trees in our garden and added gypsophila from our local farmers market to give the wreath a whimsical, delicate feel. These will look equally lovely as they dry out as they do fresh so they make a great foundation to layer upon. The woods are currently full of bluebells so we couldn’t resist collecting a handful and using them alongside purple hellebores and lilac lisianthus for splashes of colour and finally we added white hellebores, hawthorn blossom and white bleeding heart for freshness and different textures. The aim of the game here is not symmetrical perfection. The more natural and loosely styled, the better these wreaths often look and it means you can make ad hoc updates when new flowers and plants come into season. We will be visiting some nearby lavender fields in May and I plan to buy several bunches to add to this wreath so that we get a waft of their scent every time we open our door and come peony season we’ll be filling it with big blousy blooms in vintage shades. When it’s finished, hang your wreath on your front door, fling open your windows, invite spring inside and feel its calling to head outside. Connect with
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