Christmas crafting- it begins... Berry wreath

To say I was excited about last weekend would be rather an understatement. Friday crawled by interminably slowly and as the clock struck five I darted out of the office like an overexcited school child. You see, over the weekend, Christmas came to our little flat. Old Christmas songs played, dust was blown off Christmas boxes, woollens worn, candles lit.  As the intoxicating smell of the apples, cloves, sultana's and fig from our mince pies cooked in the oven (made from scratch. From scratch!) filled our home, we assembled the tree, lovingly adorned it with the fairy lights and set about making decorations. So twee it almost hurts, I know. But undeniably satisfying.

Each year our home is always indebted to our garden for providing many of our decorations. Decorating from the garden started with student poverty but has became a christmas staple. Evergreens, holly bushes, dark red leaves, branches and ivy all look beautiful adorning a mantelpiece or as the centre piece of a table. Inspired by an idea I spied in Which? Gardening, I decided this year to make more use of the winter berries that bloom at this time of year to make a garland.

Bundled up in coasts, gloves and scarves, breath misting before us, we braved the freezing weather to visit our garden and walk around our neighbourhood to collect  berries of all shapes, colours and sizes. Once we tuned into them we realised how very many varieties there are. From large juicy orange berries, to tiny bunches of small red berries, rose hips, holly berries, black berries and green ones.

Once home and de-frosted (brrr), I then carefully threaded them on to a piece of thread to create my garland.

Ta daaa! I am rather taken with it, I have to say. So, don't forget your garden (or your neighbours gardens, ahem) when thinking about decorating this year.  Happy Christmas crafting!

Are your decorations out? Feeling Christmassy? Or....meh?

P.S Thank you for your kind comments about my Guardian Article too. Still slightly pinching myself.