Wreaths, All Year Long, By Karen Harvey

One thing is certain: Karen Harvey doesn't like peas. The name of her blog is what initially struck me when I first visited idontlikepeas.co.uk. But it wasn't long before I became enamored of the many artistic adventures this UK-based photographer, writer and creative consultant embarks on and catalogs on her blog. One such adventure was wreath making. Not your average 'take-some-greenery-and-ribbon' wreath making, but the kind that involves a bit more time and thought. For Christmas gifts, Karen endeavored to create a wreath for each of her friends, using fabric scraps in colours that represented their personalities and styles. I loved the idea and how the wreaths turned out so I wanted to share the project with you - and so did Karen! Below are Karen's gorgeous wreaths, which I think could be beautiful on a door (outdoors or indoors) all year round. Karen also explains how the wreaths are made, below. Thanks, Karen! Happy wreath-making!

"I’ve always been inspired to come up with fun and beautiful things to make on a budget, my mum taught me to look for the loveliness in everything and to rework and reuse things wherever possible. I used to do a lot of art project work in deprived communities, so the skills my mum taught me came in really handy and I’ve been able to share lots of good things with good people. It was my friend Wendy who gave me the wire frames for the wreaths, I never intended to use them for their original purpose, but one evening I just sat down and started shredding fabric, and I didn’t stop!"

"You really can use any material, as long as its light enough in weight for you to be able to tie in a knot. The ready-made wire frames are available from florists and craft shops (as well as online, eBay etc), its a few pounds for 10 frames, or you can make your own, using garden wire or old wire coat hangers. You just need two rings, one smaller that the other, attached to one-another to create the frame. Then you cut, or tear as I mostly did, your fabric into strips, roughly 4cm wide and 15cm long (but it’s not a science!) and tie them on with one simple knot. Start on the middle ring for ease, tie the fabric strips all in the same direction, and pack on as many as you can! 

It’s nice to use old fabric from things you have loved. I think it would be a lovely thing to do with children’s clothes that they have grown out of, and a nice way of keeping a memory without keeping a lot of clutter.

I kept lots of ribbons from gifts, and the ribbon hangers sewn into clothes, so that I could just add those bits of different texture to the wreaths when I felt like it. You can make them as fancy or as simple as you like really!"