A seasonal autumn wreath. Olga Prinku.

I have admired Olga’s easy photographic style for quite a while now. Her instagram photos are ones of calm and of connection with nature; with wreaths made of anything from seed heads and berries to tiny flowers and dried hydrangea. A maker and knitter, you can find her on Prinku.com where you will be able to get your hands on the most amazing wool blankets, throws, hats and cushions or get yourself sorted with her gorgeous Christmas decorations…I’m heading to buy some of these wool baubles for my Christmas tree this year!!

I find I am always drawn to the wreaths. Scrolling through @olgaprinku’s feed you’ll find the many creative ways she makes these from foraged twigs, berries and seasonal flowers. I was over the moon when Olga agreed to show us how to create an autumnal one using some foraged twigs and berries local to your area…keep reading, it’s easier than you might think!

Materials:

A wreath base (you can use a florists wire ring, a wooden embroidery hoop or a willow or rattan woven wreath base – all of these are available on ebay or craft shops). I’ll be using a woven wreath made of red dogwood branches just because I love the red and it will go well with the autumn theme.Wire or hemp thread

Secateurs or scissors

2-3 longish branches of hawthorn with berries (most hedgerows will have them). Try getting younger branches that are bendy.

Any other fall foraged twigs (I’ll call them accent twigs) with berries or leaves to thicken up the wreath. Here I’m using some rose hip, little sloe branches, oak twigs and hogweed seedheads all foraged from a field nearby.

Method:

Take the first hawthorn branch and bend it around the wreath base securing it in place with the wire or thread in 3 or 4 places along your base. Take the second hawthorn branch and do the same starting where the first one finishes. Use as many branches as you need in order to go round and cover all of your wreath base. In my case I just needed to use 2 branches.

Use the other little accent twigs that you’ve foraged and push through underneath the wire to secure them to your wreath. Go round the wreath distributing you other accent foraged twigs evenly at the point were the wire is. If you’re using a woven base you can just push the extra foliage bits through the tangled base branches and they will be held in place.