Posted on March 02, 2022

Start thinking of your Christmas wreath ideas and something green, pine-covered and circular will probably spring to mind. It’s time to think again. While Christmases past has seen creative and experimental takes on the Christmas tree – bright colors, surprising shapes and built in technologies – the wreath has tended to remain a little more under the radar, out of sight out of mind perhaps with its position on the front door. 

For Christmas 2021, forget your Christmas tree ideas (or at least don't think of them for now). Instead, the wreath is becoming the star of the show, moving inside from its lofty outdoor perch, or at least making an unforgettable impression before we step inside. This year, wreaths are all about sustainability, creativity and whimsicality, with experimental palettes, configurations, materials and approaches to styling reinventing the festive wheel. We talk to the experts about the 2021 Christmas wreath trends and how to live with them.

CHRISTMAS WREATHS MADE WITH DRIED FLOWERS

Dried flowers have enjoyed a comeback over recently years, shaking off their image of color-sapped dust gatherers and rebranding as everlasting eco expressions of creativity. Like many alternative Christmas tree ideas, this is a wreath that happily ticks the zeitgeist boxes for sustainability and natural materials in the home. Yes, this is a wreath that you can both display year after year, or put in the compost bin. Design-wise: if it’s a plant you can dry, it can go in a wreath. From globes of hydrangeas, to feathery grasses and fragrant herbs and fruits, dried wreaths are an opportunity to embrace a bounty of color, texture and shape with the knowledge that the design will stay at its best for years to come. 

WHAT KIND OF PLANTS WORK WELL IN CHRISTMAS DRIED WREATHS?

‘Some of our favorite plants to use in dried flower wreaths are wild grasses and seedpods, rosehips, wild thyme, Juniper, pine, olive, yarrow, statice and strawflowers,’ shares Terri Chandler of Worm London. ‘We lean towards larch, grasses, asparagus fern, eucalyptus nuts, pine cones, dried English hydrangea, fruit, clematis vine, peppercorns and feathers’ adds Rebel Rebel’s Mairead Curtin. 

WHAT DO MODERN DRIED CHRISTMAS WREATHS LOOK LIKE?

‘Modern Christmas wreaths made of dried flowers can be wild, loose and asymmetric, or a more traditional round shape,’ says Rebel Rebel’s Mairead Curtin. ‘Most are between 10cm and 20cm. But we can go bigger!’

‘Dried wreaths tend to have lots of personality, which is lovely,’ says Terri Chandler of Worm London. ‘I love walking around our local area and seeing the homemade designs on the doors. Colorful, wild, symmetrical, neat, tonal, all different – it’s so nice that they are back in a big way.’

Original article: https://www.livingetc.com/ideas/christmas-wreath-ideas