Christmas is coming and the wigloo's getting hairy…..
So it was off to join the
Friends of Cotteridge Park on one of their weekly Sunday morning maintenance missions to tame the sproutings. With loppers and secateurs in hand, Judith, of Pollen Floral Joy, and I squelched over the boggy grass to do some serious snippage in the late autumn sunshine. Yes we are kind ladies, but not entirely altruistic ones. We wanted willow, and we wanted lots…. Why? To twist into wreath bases just in time for Christmas….
I've just signed up for
another Christmas market, so its time to get twisty with those supple willow wands, and make circlets of the lovely green, flexible stems. Some will have dried ingredients added, some might get mossed, and some might just get sprayed and glittered - a range of fates await them…
Working with willow is quite addictive as it is so versatile. Bending and twisting the wands back into tidier tunnel and igloo shapes was incredibly satisfying. After an hour of chopping and twisting, the wigloo looked a little tamer but it has filled my head with ideas of woven shelters for my own garden. Maybe I'll stab a few willow whips into the ground and see if they take root of their own accord...
Heaven knows we came back with plenty of them! Plenty to go round for my
wreath workshops. I've already turned some into bases of various sizes ranging from the tiniest dolls house front door wreaths (napkin rings??) to monsters of about 80cm in diameter.
