Best Way to Create the Eucalyptus Wall Wreath with Dried or Fresh Flowers

Wreaths can be made from dried or fresh flowers, herbs or foliage – in circles or ovals – the material wired tightly to a supporting base.

Wreaths and garlands on doors give a wel­coming feel and a swag or wreath can lift a bare expanse of wall. Whether gaily colourful or elegantly single-toned, they can provide a natural focal point. These hanging decorations need not be confined to sea­sonal festivities but can be used all year round, whether made with dried flowers, foliage or grasses to last for a while, or made from fresh material for a special occasion or seasonal uplift. Wreaths do not have to be elaborate. Relatively simple ones, made from just one flower or leaf form, can look particularly effective – a fine circlet or two of lavender, for instance, would look pretty on a bedroom wall. Pairs of wreaths or swags look good when positioned either side of a feature such as a large mirror or at each side of a chimney breast.

Creating the Eucalyptus Wall Wreath

Some of the most successful wreaths are simple circles made of just one kind of flower or leaf, like this eucalyptus wreath – the textural quality of the material used becomes its chief asset.

This simple wreath makes a per­manent adornment to a wall, and looks particularly good against plain walls in pale colours, or hanging in a window. You can also make a more dec­orative version by adding a few silk or dried flowers in a contrasting colour. Attach a wire stalk to the ends of the flowers and push them into the wreath at intervals.

1. To make the base for the eucalyptus wreath, form the heavy-gauge wire into a circle measuring about l0in (25cm) in diameter. Fasten the ends of the wire together by binding them securely with fine wire.

2. Cover the base of the ring with stems of eucalyptus, securing them by wrapping loosely with fine florist’s wire. If the woody stems are too tough to bend, they can be snapped. Overlap the stems so that the ends do not show.

3Snip off some short sprigs of eucalyptus and group them into small bunches of three or four stems. Bind the sprigs by winding fine wire around them, then bind the bunches on to the wreath, overlapping the base of one bunch with the top of the next. Make a small wire loop to enable you to hang the wreath.