Rabbit Easter Wreath

Just a quick Sunday post to share my last home made wreath and it’s inspiration fromPinterest.

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A Close Up of The Second Wreath

My second wreath on the door; I decided to use this egg design.

For the wreath itself I used the same stapling and wrapping technique that I’m going to post about tomorrow, but instead of lace I used the same garden wire to make a loop. This has to have been the easiest securing technique I’ve used on my wreaths, particularly as when I wanted to add additional leaves in the end I could slip them into the existing wire.

For the egg I’d found a plastic hollow egg and sprayed one side on the inside with gold paint. Once it had dried I glued leaves inside to make a nest shape, weighing it with something heavy to make sure it stuck. Originally I was going to decorate it with three, painted, little blue eggs. However they were made of polystyrene and when they came into contact with the glue they semi-dissolved, they ended up as shrivelled, odd looking things. So instead of them I used these larger, plastic blue eggs. Once they were glued in and the egg sealed I glued them with waterproof glue to the wreath.

If you don’t want to put it on the door it looks lovely on a mantlepiece too.

How To Make An Easter Wreath

As I said yesterday I decorated the front of our house with the Easter wreaths yesterday. Well here is the how to for one of them, perhaps you’d like to do one yourself?

You need; 

1 (or 2) straw wreath/s

1 (or 2) Bouquet of silk peonies (for the symbolism in the wreath and their Christian meanings take a look at this research post)

2 (or 4) silk, leafy branches

Small toy lamb (and optional rabbit)

Wooden letters J (and optional M)

Gold spray paint (if you have it you may want spray paint primer too and some spray glitter varnish)

Waterproof, superglue (about 1-2 tubes per wreath, depending on the glue size)

White lace (about 1 or 2M)

Strong scissors

Staple gun with large staples

A small box

1. In a small box put a letter and then spray with gold paint. I often use various size boxes when I’m spray painting as they automatically shield everywhere else from the paint. I’ve suggested spray paint primer if you have it as these letters are not treated, so they’ll soak up your paint and can sometimes make the gold effect uneven (this is my second coat above, and you can see that there). I couldn’t find mine at the time of painting, so resigned myself to this and repainted it several times leaving a long gap between successive coats to ensure it cured properly. I had to do the last as I was spraying quite thickly. I went back and forth between the box and the project, leaving it over night as I had other work to do after the initial planning stage (points 2-5). Then when the letter was gold enough I also added a glitter varnish which has a gold tinge to it to finish it off.
2. Select ‘off-shoots’ from the leafy branch to form your base – these should be about 3, 4 or 5 leaves, but determine their length based on the branch make up and what they’ll be used for. If you need to use your scissors for this, but I often just twisting and bending works.

3. Separate all the flowers and divide them into groupings. As you can see I had 3, darker blush peonies as well as 3 light, blush peonies, 2 buds, 2 flower sprays and 3 leafy sprigs. By separating the flowers it’s easier to see how best to arrange them on the wreath.

4. I often start by laying out the arrangement so I have an idea where everything is going to go, although I adapt when I actually make the wreath. The first step to this is to arrange the leafy branches around the outer circle of the wreath and then the inner. To add a little interest I also arranged the flower prays and leafy sprigs to the external wreath, as this will break up the uniform outline.

5. I then lay out where the flowers will be, taking into account the gold letter will be going on the wreath as well. I’d already decided I was going to add the lamb or rabbit to the relevant letter (Jesus or Mary, again see this post for the symbolism), so I didn’t need to factor in space for that. As there where 3 of each darker and lighter blush, as well as the two buds it lent itself naturally to this arrangement. Take a photo at this stage to remind you where everything goes – you never know, you might have to suddenly clear up.
6. Now you need to undo it all. Back with a bare wreath add a tag for hanging. I did mine with the lace by cutting a 10 – 15 cm strip of the lace and gluing one end to the back of the straw wreath. Then I took another 10 -15 cm strip and tied it in a double knot at the back. The tied strip is placed on the wreath and the length attached to the wreath already circles it and is the placed over the top of the tied, with the knot against the wreath itself, to attach it to the wreath. I then staple and glue it to ensure it’s secure. This means that the loop for the wreath is flat against the surface its going to hung against, rather than having to twist to hang.

7. The good thing about using artificial flowers and leaves is that they have a wire base, so you can bend them to form the wreath’s shape before applying. Start with a sprig of leaves, bend to a semi circle in line with the wreath, and secure it to the outer rim of the wreath with two or three staples. The picture top left shows the back of the wreath, not the front, as this is the outer rim I’m working with.
8. Continue for about three sprigs of leaf and flower sprays in a similar pattern to how you’ve planned. At this point stop and, with your waterproof glue, add dots of glue over staples and in parts where you think it would be good to ensure they remaining touching (you can see the glue above where the staple and stem are shiny in the images above point 7). It’s also a good idea to push the staples into the straw as far as they can go prior to glueing, as they may have already been slightly dislodged as you place and glue other sprigs. Continue in the same way, stapling and gluing, all the way round the outer rim of the wreath and then, when you reach the bottom of the wreath opposite to the hanging lace, start to lay the sprigs in the opposite direction.

9. Then start with a rose bud, or whatever flower you have chosen, to start of the internal, flowered pattern. Use the same method as the external – stapling and gluing. Once you have reached on their of the way round stop. At this point I had a full rose, a rose bud and about 3 leaf sprigs left.

10. Liberally put glue on the back of your letter and place it firmly on the wreath. As at this point I was working with the “Jesus” wreath I then glued and applied the lamb onto the letter. On both the letter and the lamb I added globs of glue whenever the item being glued touched what it was being glued to, to ensure that it was extra secure (again you can see this in the picture, the shiny sections). You may want to leave the wreath for a while at this point as you don’t want to disjoint the work you’ve done because you’re too eager to carry on.
11. When the glued parts are sufficiently dry add the final rose and rose bud so the two final flowers almost touch each other, but have a space between of about 5 cms (or whatever is appropriate for your width of ribbon.

12. Then make your bow. I started mine by tying a relatively loose not about half way down the length and then continued tying a bow that I felt was the right size. It needs to be relatively loose so that you can staple secure it to the wreath. When I did that I stapled on the outer rim of the wreath, so that the bow wouldn’t overwhelm the flowers. As it was too low down I just grabbed more of the loose material and re-stapled until I was satisfied. Obviously you may want to use a form of ribbon with wired edges to secure a shape, but I had this lace already and somehow it’s delicate nature said ‘spring’ to me. When the bow was in place I diagonally cut the ends, one shorter than the other, to finish it.
13. Move the bow lengths out of the way and, once the wreath is completely dry, add the left over sprigs of leaves to the inner rim in the same manner as above. You then may want to take a good look round the whole of the wreath, stapling and gluing, to make sure everything is secure.

Let us bring hope to others – Hallelujah, He is risen!

I’d love to know what you think, or if you have any queries let me know.

Joyeux Pâques

We have been on lock down here in France for a long time and it’s likely to continue. Our priest has been celebrating the mass all alone throughout this time and transmitting it via Facebook. It’s incredibly poignant.

He asked that on Easter Saturday we light a candle and put it in our windows to signify the resurrection and give hope. As France is a Catholic country and we’re Catholic I like to make decorations that reflect this for the holidays. So yesterday I brought out some Easter decor and put it on our front door.

I thought I’d share the symbolism behind them and some how tos so you can make your own. They’ll be appearing over the next few days.

Rabbits

I’ve started to plan my Easter wreaths but I like to do a little research first to make sure the symbolism I use tells our Catholic story. I had dismissed the bunnies, no matter how cute, as I assumed they were a pagan or secular tradition. However it seems that I was completely wrong.

According to this Catholic site the ancient Greeks believed rabbits could reproduce as virgins and as result in early medieval times they became associated with the Virgin Mary. Rabbits began appearing in illuminated manuscripts and paintings where the Virgin Mary was depicted, serving as an allegorical illustration of her virginity.

So although the Easter Bunny was popularised by German Protestants the rabbit is Catholic.

Lamb

Not secondary to Mary, of course, He is the First and the Last – the Alpha and Omega. Jesus is represented by a lamb, going back to the first passover sacrifice. Among the popular Easter symbols, the lamb is by far the most significant of this great feast. The Easter lamb, representing Christ, with the flag of victory, may be seen in pictures and images.

Did you know the oldest prayer for the blessing of lambs can be found in the seventh-century sacramentary (ritual book) of the Benedictine monastery, Bobbio in Italy? Roast lamb was also the main feature of the Pope’s Easter dinner for many centuries. It was also a popular superstition that the devil, who could take the form of all other animals, was never allowed to appear in the shape of a lamb because of its religious symbolism.

Letters

As my front door is a double door I’m going to definitely have two easter wreaths there, one a lamb with a J and one with a rabbit with an M.

Flowers

Traditional easter flowers would be Lilies, an ancient symbol of the Resurrection. However as I’m using silk flowers obtaining lilies that are realistic looking has been difficult.

Alternatives are azaleas,  tulips (seen as messengers of love, passion and belief) as well as daisies (innocence and loyalty).

Although I may have a third wreath with some of these (particularly the last) I have decided to use silk peonies, both for practical reasons and their symbolism. I ordered my silk peonies from a Chinese dealer and they’re beautiful – I’ve used the supplier before and I was confident they would be and a fraction of the price elsewhere. I still buy silk flowers in France as I believe in contributing to the country, but I need to be careful with money too. These are a good buy but you must be careful to order them with plenty of time for their delivery.

Their symbolism in Christianity is for an ardent love of God – which is suitable for this time of year don’t you think?

White Lace and Gold Letters

For the hanging tie I’ve chosen white lace. It symbolises both the bright light of the moment of Resurrection and the purity of God’s love for His People.

Also God for the letters above, for the same reason. Did you know that these are the pope’s colors since the pope is the closest representative of Christ in his glory?