Time to get busy to welcome the season of Advent

This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent which means it’s time to gather fir branches, holly and ivy for the Advent wreath, and for a big wreath to hang on the front door.

Advent wreaths are usually the first Christmas decorations to go up, followed by the tree. They symbolise the exciting count down to Christmas Day.

A home-made Advent wreath really gives you a dose of seasonal spirit and you’ll soon want to make more decorations. So next week, after you’ve finished making the wreath, and have lit the first candle, make these miniature wreaths out of old curtain rings. Just don’t go pulling down your parents’ curtains to make them! 

Get creative with the kind of ring you use for the wreath. Use old sellotape rings or an old kilner jar lid. And, you can always use a polystyrene ring from an arts and craft shop. 

You’ll need a few old curtain hooks, green wool or ribbon, fabric glue, scissors.

If you’re working with a wooden ring, this can be quite slippy to work with. So wrap some paper around it first to make wrapping the wool around it easier. This will also make the wreath look fuller.

Green wool

Begin by cutting a long length of the green wool. With one end, tie it in a knot to the ring and then begin to wrap the other end tightly around until the entire ring is covered. Tie this end to the shorter end and then trim off any tailing bits.

Next glue some sequins onto the wreath and allow to dry. Glue a small bow onto the bottom and then loop some more ribbon through the wreath to hang it up.

Hang them from the Christmas tree when you get it, or use them as gift tags. Or, if you or a sibling has a dolls house, hang the smallest ones from the front door. Better yet, place them face down to make an Advent wreath for the dolls house. Paint wooden skewer purple and pink, and then glue these around the edge of the wreath for the candles. Paint the pointy tip of the skewer yellow for the candle flame.

If you can get your hands on it, use green tinsel wool to wrap around the rings. You can use ordinary tinsel but this is much flimsier so take care when wrapping it around the the ring.