Inspiration

Where you can make your own dried wreath

We love celebrating local makers and encouraging DIY here at Your Home and Garden, so features editor Fiona Ralph decided to walk the talk and try some workshops in our local area. Here are the results…

DriedWreath

Where you can make your own dried wreath

Have you ever admired a gorgeous handmade wreath? Perhaps you’ve seen a sculptural piece hanging on a wall or lusted over a fabulous festive wreath on a friend’s door. Did you assume they were impossible to make? I did, until I went to a ‘Sculptural Wreaths of Vines and Branches’ workshop at the Vida Flores Flower School.

Vida Flores owner Davina Prankerd has created an enjoyable, easy class where she shows small groups of students how to make dried wreaths. The wreaths are sculptural, untamed, imperfect and beautiful. The best part is, you can take the wreath home and it will keep for years, making an ideal base for seasonal decorations.

The class takes place out the back of the fragrant and beautiful Vida Flores shop in Auckland’s Newmarket, where Davina and her team sell artistic bouquets and create arrangements for events and weddings. Davina has prepared bundles of cut grapevines and explains to us how to take a vine and wind it around itself to form a loop as the wreath base.

Then it’s an hour of wrestling vines into submission as we continue winding and adding until our wreaths are the desired size and shape. It’s quite addictive and fun, but eventually it’s time to head back into the shop to decorate them. We choose from greenery such as fresh ivy and flowers including jasmine and erica (which I used). Davina also shows us how to incorporate a test tube into the wreath so that flowers and greenery will stay hydrated.

This was a fun, simple workshop which inspired me to get more creative with nature and proved that creating a sculptural, botanical arrangement can be easy. Proudly displaying my wreath at home was pretty special, too. The Vida Flores Flower School offers classes in flower arranging, wall installations, sugar flower making, festive displays and more.

Davina runs classes in floral arranging, wreath making and more at Vida Flores in Newmarket, Auckland.
Visit vidaflores.co.nz or email school@vidaflores.co.nz.

Words by: Fiona Ralph. Photography by: Angie Humphreys.

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