How to Make a Beautiful Holiday Wreath

 Over the weekend I spent some time working on seating and tablescaping for my upcoming Thanksgiving dinner.  It sounds crazy, but logistics for hosting a dinner party of this size and complexity requires lots of prep work weeks in advance.

I am in the final stages of fine tuning my Thanksgiving tablescape (sharing the big reveal on the blog next week!), but have been struggling with one major component...the centerpiece!  One concept I had been strongly considering was a fresh wreath made of mixed greenery encircling a big hurricane with a three-wick candle in the center.  In my mind this sounded like a great idea, but I needed to test it out before committing.

The results?  Let me just say that I am so glad that I took the time to test out this concept. It was obvious as soon as I placed the wreath on the table that it most definitely was not going to work as a centerpiece for this tablescape, however it did look fabulous on my front door.  

Why am I sharing this DIY?  The holiday season is pretty much here and wreaths tend to be a decor essential.  While I am constantly wishing that I could buy one of the many luxe wreaths sold in some of my favorite home stores, there is no way that I can justify spending $130 on something that will be dead in a few months.  DIY wreaths are not hard to make and cost a fraction of the price of those fancy store bought wreaths.  In addition, you have the ability to customize your wreath to meet your exact aesthetic specifications.  Here is how you can make your own beautiful wreath to adorn your home this holiday season. 

Materials:

• Trader Joe's Grapevine Wreath for $3.99! (Similar here)
• 22 Gauge Paddle Wire
• Wire Cutters
• Sharp Scissors or Branch Clippers
• Greenery: Myrtle, Eucalyptus, Fern, Pine, etc.
• Wreath Embellishments (Similar here)

Instructions:

1. Gather approximately 4-5 pieces of an assortment of greenery that has been trimmed to between 6-8inches in length
2. Using a piece of 6inch green wire, wrap the base of the greenery bunch tightly
3. To secure the greenery onto the wreath, cut an additional 6 inch piece of green wire and weave it through the grapevine wreath, then place your greenery bunch base over the piece of wire that has been woven through the wreath and use the wire to secure the bunch by twisting it tightly on top of the bunch (see image below).
4. Continue steps 1-3 until the entire wreath is covered with greenery bunches, making sure to overlap each bunch as you go around the wreath in order to hide the wiring.  
5. Once your wreath is covered in greenery, insert desired embellishments.  My embellishments did not require additional wiring to secure.  I merely inserted them into the desired locations and both the greenery and grapevine base held them in place.  
6. Your wreath will only last a few days, however, if you mist it every other day with a little water, a wreath of eucalyptus will dry beautifully and last for a few months.

November Kitchen Tools

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is only a few short weeks away!  Honestly where the heck did October go?  And for that matter, I feel like September flew right by me as well!  Anyway, it is officially time to start immersing in preparations for the holiday season (or as I like to call it, "The Entertaining Olympics!").  

The November kitchen tools featured today are 3 important essentials for anyone hosting Thanksgiving dinner.  While I know that there are plenty of other kitchen tools that are essential for cooking Thanksgiving dinner, these three tools are a great starting point.  **Not to worry!  Throughout the month I will be walking you through my entire preparation process for hosting my own Thanksgiving dinner this year.  Menu planning, food shopping, tablescaping and more, will all be featured on the blog over the coming weeks.  So without further adieu, let's get going on "Operation Thanksgiving Prep!"

Roasting Pan

Your roasting pan is the vessel that will be responsible for supporting your main Thanksgiving attraction (the turkey) while it cooks, so having a good quality roasting pan with roasting rack is vital!  My roasting pan is the Large Stainless Steel Roaster with Rack from All Clad, and I would highly recommend it. This pan affords you the latitude to cook a vast array of meat/poultry types, from a weeknight roast chicken to a large Thanksgiving turkey.  I love to layer the base of my roasting pan with an assortment of herbs, a delicious mirepoix and even on occasion some potato wedges (aka the ultimate one-pot dish!).  The roasting rack allows the bird to sit above base of herbs and veggies while cooking, which prevents it from getting soggy but allows for the bird to soak up all of the flavors that are rising from below during the cooking process.  This roaster is a common piece of cookware, but oh how it makes such a difference when cooking up a delicious Thanksgiving turkey!

Potato Ricer

Turkey might be the main attraction, but Thanksgiving just isn't the same without mashed potatoes.  I am a huge fan of ricing my potatoes in order to achieve maximum fluffiness when making mashed potatoes.  I absolutely love using my OXO 3-in-1 Adjustable Potato Ricer.  You can adjust there perforation settings on this ricer and all of the pieces come off for easy cleaning.  As if those weren't reasons enough for loving this potato ricer, Cook's Illustrated just awarded the OXO Potato Ricer Runner-up in this year's issue of Cook's All-Time Best Thanksgiving Recipes!  Yes, I totally feel validated with my potato ricer selection.  But in all honesty, it really is a great ricer and an essential tool for cooking Thanksgiving dinner.

Cooking Twine

Cooking twine is a Thanksgiving prep must have.  Not only do you need to truss your bird before placing it in the oven in order to ensure it cooks evenly, but you also need cooking twine to make your bouquet garni (see this previous post)!  An inexpensive item that is essentially for achieving that perfectly cooked turkey on Thanksgiving.