A Christmas Wreath

This year was the first year that I have hung a decoration on my door for Thanksgiving.  In other places we lived it didn't seem like we would maintain the decoration on the door if I put it out, so I never did.  Well, I put it up and the turkey decor survived the season and made me hungry for a Christmas door decoration.  I wanted something cheap and found a few different methods of making a pine cone wreath.  Pine cones are plentiful here so I wouldn't have to spend too much money.  I decided to use this website as my tutorial.  I bought my pony beads on amazon and already had the hanger and glue gun/sticks.  The babies helped me gather pine cones while we went on walks in October.  Finally, we were ready.

I got out my stuff and got to work.  I quickly learned that it actually matters where you glue the pony bead.  If you try to be artistic about it then you won't be able to fit it on the hanger with the other pine cones.  I also learned how difficult it can be to thread pony beads with pine cones attached to them on a hanger that you barely managed to separate.  So I worked on the wreath for about 45 minutes one day but couldn't finish so I hung it outside because babies and pine cones don't mix.

A month passed.  In that month a big storm came through and totally destroyed the wreath.  All the pine cones were on the floor and all the pony beads were still on the hanger.  And all the pine cones were wet.  I thought, 'I'm going to let those dry, pick them up and try one more time and that's it.'  I was disappointed that it didn't hold up a little better even though it was rainy and windy.  I didn't want to waste too much of my life on it so one more try was it.

I waited until the pine cones dried in the desert sun, gathered them and tried one more time.  This time, I knew exactly how to place the pony beads so that made some things easier.  I found that the wreath was so heavy that the hanger didn't hold it's circular shape.  So I have an elliptical pine cone wreath (or maybe a rhombus?).  I will throw it away at the end of the season or when all the pine cones fall off because of the wind, whichever comes first.  I like the festive nature of my wreath but I don't like that it is so fragile.  Next time I might just buy one or do some type of ribbon wreath.