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This history of wreaths goes back centuries. Wreaths are as relevant today as they were hundreds of years ago. Our ancestors often used wreaths at the burials of loved ones. We also find accounts of wreaths being used in funerals for martyrs and to celebrate conquests throughout history.
Photo taken by: Jennifer McFadden at Jen’s Wreaths in Deer River, Minnesota
Today’s use of wreaths is a little more mundane. However, people across the world currently use wreaths for beautifying their homes, recognizing the change of seasons and giving them as presents for many occasions. A common housewarming gift in today’s society is a wreath and many Americans send wreaths as Christmas presents. Grab a cup of coffee and let’s talk about the upcoming holiday season and how fresh wreaths can enhance your home ambiance and decor.
Wreaths can be a year around staple. It is so enjoyable to change the flavor of your wreaths along with the seasons. Using colors like pastels in the spring, bold grass greens in the summer, orange and browns in the fall, and blues in the winter are ideas to get you started.
Also, don’t forget holidays. You can theme your wreath with hearts for Valentine’s Day, Eggs for Easter, Flags for Memorial Day, Gourds for Thanksgiving and Elves for Christmas. There are so many directions you can go and expand on these ideas.
Fresh vs. Faux Greenery For Christmas
Fresh wreaths vs. faux wreaths are a legitimate debate. Faux wreaths allow you to reuse the wreath over multiple years. You also don’t have to worry about needles dropping like you would with a fresh pine wreath. You also can get some synthetic bases like Styrofoam and so on which some folks prefer.
The downfall is you need a place to store the synthetic wreaths if plan on saving them year to year. Weighing out the item cluttering up your storage or not is something to consider. Faux wreaths can also incorporate more inorganic things like plastics attached to them to give them their own unique look.
I would say there are some holidays were plastic eggs on a wreath look good and fake plastic gourds. It is possible to still use some of these more plastic type decorations on fresh wreaths, too. It’s certainly an ongoing debate and I’d encourage you to try each type of wreath and see what matches your preference the best. Let’s look at the pros and cons of a fresh wreath next.
The Advantages Of Decorating With Fresh Christmas Wreaths
When you look at the benefits of a fresh wreath I think they are numerous. I’m a bit biased having manufactured fresh balsam fir wreaths for almost two decades. I love the aroma that a fresh fir wreath gives to the environment of your home. Smell is one of most forgotten senses and a good smelling atmosphere sets the tone for holiday celebrations.
Now we must remember that some fresh wreaths are made from materials with no scent. I’ve seen corn husk wreaths over the years and wreaths with twig type bases that are not going to give you the scent benefit. Yet, another benefit of fresh vs. faux is it is recyclable. Here at our farm we make some of our Christmas wreaths completely organic.
Reindeer Moss, pinecones, real floral rose hips, fresh hypericum berries and baby’s breath are our favorite decorations to incorporate on an organic wreath. The metal wire clamp frame can also be put in scrap metal and recycled. For some folks this is a big selling point and others not. Thirdly, fresh wreaths just have a look about them that can’t be replicated. Even the top of the line faux wreaths can’t replicate pine needles well. Most fake wreaths look too often like fake imitations.
Mother Nature offers us so much beautiful unique bounty. Twigs, leaves, cattails, willow branches, red dogwood, big ponderosa pinecones, little spruce pinecones and various dried grasses can all be woven into a beautiful wreath. One of the wreaths we designed for Thanksgiving 2020 has a beautiful harvest bow.
This Thanksgiving Wreath is new to our product line but you can see how we incorporate both a real balsam fir base to the wreath and then added faux synthetic type decorations to achieve the look we wanted. Other than the 1 time use, occasional sweeping up of any needles and sometimes spritzing the balsam with some water fresh wreaths have far more benefits than downsides.
How to Create: A Stunning Modern Organic Christmas Wreath
Let me also show you a picture of that 100% fully organic Christmas Wreath. This organic Christmas wreath has been incredibly well received and folks love the mixed greens along with the natural decorations. Mixed greens mean a balsam fir base and sprigs of cedar and pine incorporated for a nice lush texture. This wreath is also available on our website: www.jenswreaths.com
Jen’s Wreaths Organic Wreath is pictured. They call it the Deluxe Corporate on their website.
The choice is yours for this upcoming holiday season. I would encourage you to explore what’s on the market. Go online and click through some websites from families that handcraft fresh wreaths and compare them to your typical fake wreath.
There probably will be cost difference between the types of wreaths but remember much time, energy and effort has gone into putting that handmade wreath together. Whichever style you choose be sure to take time to enjoy it and soak up the beauty of it.
Also, think through your placement. Do you prefer a wreath over your fireplace or on your front door? Sometime folks want more than one wreath to put them on multiple walls in and outside of their homes.
Regardless of your final decision, may your holiday season and wreath adventures be blessed! Cheers to a happy healthy 2020 holiday season!
Jennifer McFadden is the owner of Jen’s Wreaths in rural northern Minnesota. She and her family handcraft fresh Christmas wreaths at their family farm.
Over the years they have worked with professional designers and have become quite proficient in the art of putting together some of the top door wreaths in the industry.