Last week I took a trip to visit the lovely Liz at Blue Sky Flowers to make an autumn wreath together. She didn't invite me there so that I'd write a blog post on it, I just wanted to put this post together to remind myself how easy it is to make one again next time and to have the photos to look back on. I hope you'll find it useful too or perhaps gain some inspiration to create something for your own front door. Wreaths are normally just for Christmas but there's something so lovely about celebrating the seasons and creating one year round too.

I've known Liz for a few years now and we keep in touch via Instagram. She saw my Halloween photo of our door adorned with some pumpkins a couple of weeks back and asked where my autumn wreath was! I hadn't even thought about making one but when she invited me to her studio to make one with her and look around New Covent Garden Flower Market {somewhere I'd never visited before!} with her I jumped at the chance. It meant an early morning wake up, the market opens at 4am!, and a drive across London but it was so worth it. Liz rekindled my love for creativity with flowers and I want to kindle that feeling {and hope it lasts for future season's wreath making!}. 

The market itself was incredible. And stocked just about everything you could imagine {except peonies! Although they did have some in last week from New Zealand}

Spring bulbs!! 

The wreath making was perfect timing for a bit of a practice before making a Christmas version in just a couple of weeks. {p.s. if you're looking for a Christmas wreath making workshop, Liz is running a few on the 3rd, 9th and 10th December this year, drop her an email if you're interested in booking.}

When making a wreath you can start one of two ways. The first is with a metal base that you wire moss onto. I've done this method with Liz a couple of years back at an autumn workshop {blog post here} but for my Christmas wreaths have always used oasis rings. So this time I opted for oasis again, it holds water to keep it looking fresher but also I find it a lot easier as you literally just poke your foliage into it rather than making your fingers sore with the wire.

I recommend using this ring as the base. And pre-soak it in a sink full of water overnight.

Then it's a case of creating a base with whatever foliage you have to hand. This time I used some autumnal eucalyptus, beech leaves and I was very lucky that Liz had a few buckets of some gorgeous other bits that I didn't catch the name of. But you could go foraging or visit a flower market/florist to pick up a few bits. Once you have a base and most of the oasis is covered you can then start to layer up/embellish with seasonal extras. I used rosehips, dried poppy heads and scabious seed heads. You can go as wild or restrained as you like, the trick is knowing when to stop {something I'm not that great at, especially when there are so many gorgeous options in Liz's studio to keep adding in!}. I tend to keep mine fairly symmetrical. Because of the oasis you could add fresh flowers into this too, Liz put a few roses in hers. 

At first, if you're like me, you might think how can I ever make this look good?! But gradually as it gets fuller, it just kind of pulls together. I don't think you can really go wrong, especially if you hold it up periodically to see how it's looking and if it looks fairly balanced.

I was too busy making to take many during photos. 

Liz's creation.

And my finished wreath.

A huge thank-you to Liz at Blue Sky Flowers for such a treat of a morning. This hanging on my door has been making me smile ever since.

R <3 xx