Christmas 2018

Wow! This has been an incredible Christmas season for Hannah Louise flowers! Thank you so much to everyone who ordered a wreath or came on one of my workshops. The prep work that goes into it is a pretty hard slog - lots of early mornings, sore fingers and spending time out in the cold - but good prep work ensured the workshops went flawlessly and there were always extra materials available for those last minute orders (there are always a few that order wreaths when they see their friends' ones on their doors!)

I do all my wreath working in stages - starting with the first step of mossing up the rings. This can be done quite early with the frames then kept outside, because the moss lasts for ages. I then cut up all the foliage and at the end of November I bound all the foliage onto the rings. And then came the fun part - the decorating! Wiring the decorations really takes its toll on my hands so I staggered this part in between workshops so they had time to rest in between. And the decorating part is so much fun that I can look past the pain!!

I showed some sneak peeks of the wreath making process on my Instagram stories.

I offer a huge range of decorations for both my wreaths and my workshop attendees - traditional fruits, cones and cinnamon, as well as sparkly bits - apples, stars and berries. It's no surprise that more than one person commented that choosing what to go for was one of the hardest parts of making their wreaths!

I made sure I had wreaths up on both the front and back door of my parents' house ready for the workshops to start - for the front door I went all out with a fabulous stag head, cotton flower, apples, stars and a beautiful dusky pink velvet bow. For the back door I kept it more simple, with mixed foliages, pussy wilow, berries and dried seed heads, and because I love it so much I used the same pink ribbon! 

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My wreath workshops started at the end of November and then they were pretty full on for the first couple of weeks of December. Everyone had a really great time and it was so nice to see everyone's beautiful designs. I took some action shots while everyone was working away - the concentration levels are so high when it comes to decorating! Even those who came in saying they weren't at all creative put the most care into their wreaths and ended up with some of the best designs!

There were over 60 of you that came on wreath workshops this year and you all looked so wonderful with all your lovely wreaths! I also made up some extra ones which you guys decorated for the couple of people who unfortunately couldn't attend. I had two men come on workshops this year which wad great, it's not just for women and I loved seeing what the guys came up with!

Some of my lovely attendees have sent me photos of their wonderful wreaths on their doors - it's so nice to see them in place! And I love the ones that have designed their wreaths to match the colour of their doors.

I received this lovely review from one of my workshop attendees:

"Recently completed one of Hannah’s Christmas wreath making classes. Hannah was the perfect tutor - especially so with those less creative in nature! A really beautiful venue to work in and just the perfect start to Christmas celebrations (and the best homemade mince pies I’ve ever tasted!) Looking forward to returning again next year."

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As well as my workshops I also took orders for Christmas wreaths. I put together three set designs, as I find you guys prefer to choose from a photo, including a traditional red, my ever popular white and silver 'let it snow' and a vintage pink design. The majority of my pre-orders were for the 'let it snow' design and I got everything boxed up before my workshops started - had to make sure I had enough decorations!

Although I took pre-orders for my set designs I also made a fair few custom wreaths - check some of them out below. I just loved the different coloured velvet ribbons!

For one of my clients as well as a wreath I added additional ribbon around the door frame, with bows to finish off. It was a bit of a challenge getting the nails into the frame but we got there in the end!

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My friend Sharon asked about making a table arrangement, rather than a wreath, so I ran a one-to-one workshop with her, partly so she could make her Christmas centrepiece but also so I could see how the workshop went. I had a few of my wreath workshop attendees ask about table arrangements so I wanted to trial it out to see if this is something I could offer for next year. I'm pleased to say it went really well so I'm excited to be able to add this to my list of workshops next year.  

I also took a few orders for Christmas table centrepieces, just to finish off the season. I have something different planned for my Christmas table though so keep an eye on my Instagram for snaps of that when I've made it! I'll be at my parents' for Christmas dinner and they have a huge table (there will be 10 of us!) so plenty of space for my imagination to run wild!

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It took a while but after all the workshops and wreaths I finally got round to making some of my own decor! Well, for my parents' fireplace anyway - I put together this gorgeous mixed foliage arrangement for them. I do this every year and usually make it on a length of rope but they use the fire a lot in the lead up to Christmas so it always dries out so this year I tried it in foam to see if it lasts any better. It's a tricky one with heat and central heating - door wreaths last so well because they're outside in the cold and can draw moisture from the air but inside you have to keep spraying the garland with water. And actually it may work in the garland's favour putting it up that much later!

Happy Christmas!

Love,
​Hannah xx