10 WESTCOUNTRY LIFE SATURDAY DECEMBER 8 2012 WESTERN MORNING NEWS
WMN-E01-S3
WMN-E01-S3
WESTERN MORNING NEWS SATURDAY DECEMBER 8 2012 WESTCOUNTRY LIFE 11
Crafts/Christmas wreaths Deck the halls with boughs of holly and berries Bracken Vernon-Jelier gets expert advice on creating a beautiful Christmas wreath from Kate Trewartha-Wyatt
To make a Christmas wreath, Kate Trewartha-Wyatt began by covering a metal frame with hay, gradually building up the foliage before adding ceramic decorations and bright red ribbon PICTURES: STEVEN HAYWOOD
The tradition of the wreath pre-dates the Victorians by centuries, but it was a tradition they embraced and made their own. Today there aren’t many doors without a wreath at Christmas time, but to buy a fresh one can be very expensive. With “crafting and creating” at home becoming increasingly popular more people are choosing to make their own. I have to confess that I have attempted to make a few Christmas wreaths in my time, but I usually end up reverting to the slightly battered bought one after a few weeks because mine starts to shed clumps of decoration before the festive season even begins. That’s why I decided to find out where I’m going wrong from Kate Trewartha-Wyatt, who is running a course at the Moorland Garden Hotel in Yelverton, near Plymouth, next week. Kate’s been making wreaths and garlands and Christmas decorations and all other manner of seemingly unachievable beauties for seven years. Her wreaths use locally sourced materials (straight from the garden) and are decorated with little clay trinkets that she has also made herself (but she’ll kindly give them to you on the course). She gave me a simple step-by-step guide to making a wreath. We used: ■ A metal wreath ring bought from most garden centres or hardware stores. ■ Twine and wire to attach things to the rings. ■ The base of the wreath is stuffed with hay – Kate gets some from a local farmer, but you can buy it at a garden centre in small bags. ■ Christmas tree branches or evergreen cuttings. ■ Pine cones, cinnamon sticks and homemade decorations. ■ Oranges which had been scored and dried out for a few days.
1 Foraging
You will need to collect together your items which will also mean foraging with your secateurs in your garden, on common land or on roadside verges. We used a variety of greenery and were lucky enough to find some berries. Look out for anything that will add colour – leaves, twigs and berries are good – but remember, you should only take enough for your personal use.
2 Hay
Holding the hay in large handfuls, gradually twist it around the metal ring, securing it with twine as you go. We used a romantic, heart-shaped wreath ring, although a circular one might be easier for a first try. Make sure that the hay is packed thickly and tightly on all sides of the ring.
Chess BOB JONES Devon beat Cornwall 12-8 at sunny Saltash on Saturday. The details were (Devon names first): 1 D Mackle 1-0 J Menadue. 2 J Stephens ½-½ M Hassall. 3 S Homer 1-0 L Retallack. 4 J Wheeler ½-½ S Bartlett. 5 K Hurst 1-0 J Willman. 6 B Hewson ½-½ G Trudeau. 7 A Brusey ½-½ C Sellwood. 8 O Wensley ½-½ J Nicholas. 9 J Leung 1-0 DJ Jenkins. 10 M Shaw ½-½ M Hill. 11 B Gosling ½-½ R Smith. 12 A Kinder ½-½ C Long. 13 N Rahimili 1-0 DR Jenkins. 14 T Thynne 1–0 A Barkhuysen. 15 W Ingham 1-0 P Spargo. 16 P Brooks 1-0 D Lucas. The top game was this, with notes based on those by the winner. White: D Mackle (202). Black: JFS Menadue (187). Queen’s Gambit – Slave Defence – Alapin Variation. [D15] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 b5 White has gambited a pawn in return for extra space for his pieces. 6.e5 Nd5 7.a4 e6 8.Ng5 h6 9.Nge4 b4 10.Nb1 Qh4 11.Qf3 Ba6 12.Nbd2 c3 13.Nc4 Bxc4 14.Bxc4 cxb2 15.Bxb2 Nd7 16.a5 f5 17.exf6 N7xf6 18.Bd3 Kd7 Black decides to keep his king in the centre as he plans a kingside attack. White accepts the challenge and goes for a queenside counter. 19.0–0 Nxe4 20.Bxe4 Bd6 21.g3 Qf6 22.Qd3 a6 23.Rfc1 h5 24.Rc2 h4 25.Rac1 hxg3 26.hxg3 Rhc8 27.Qb3 Ra7 28.Qa4 Rac7 29.Bd3 Qf3 30.Be2 Qe4 31.Qb3 Rh8 32.Bf3 Qf5 33.Bg2 g5 34.Qc4 Ra8 There now follows some toing and froing as the time control at move 40 looms. 35.Re2 Rcc8 36.Rce1 Re8 37.Rc2 Rec8 38.Qe2 Re8 39.Rec1 Rec8 40.Re1 Re8 With an extra 20 minutes thinking time now available, White can afford to work out the details of his attack. 41.Bf3 Rac8 42.Bg4 Qg6 43.Rcc1 Re7 44.Qxa6 the final assault. 44...Nf6 45.Rxe6 Rxe6 46.Bxe6+ Kxe6 47.Qxc8+ Nd7 48.d5+ cxd5 49.Re1+ 1-0 as the king must abandon his knight. 49…Be5 doesn't work after 50.Rxe5+ nor 49...Kf7 50.Qxd7+ Kf8 51.Qd8+ Kf7 52.Qe8#. Meanwhile, Somerset beat Dorset 10½-5½ at Bradford Abbas, while Hants lead Glos 8-7 with one disputed result to be settled. More details next week. The solution to Christopher Reeve’s problem was 1.Nd8! after which Black has four tries, all of which fail; viz (a) 1…BxR 2.BxB#; (b) 1…PxN 2.QxP# (c) 1…BxB 2.QxQP# and (d) 1…PxP 2.QxQP#. This position is taken from an early Paignton Congress game – TH Tylor v FEA Kitto. Black (to move) has sacrificed a rook in pressing his attack. Was it worth the price?
3 Decorative sprigs Collect small pieces of your greenery and start to create small bunches or sprigs of the foliage to add one at a time. Ensure that the back piece is longer than the front and that there is plenty of variety in colour and texture. Secure them around the stems with a small piece of wire. Create enough bunches to cover your ring, we made ten.
4 Filling
Once you are happy with your collection of little bunches, use the wire to start securing them to the base. Start the first one with the stems of the bunch in line with the point of the heart. Once you have secured the first, do the other side (always with the stems downwards). The top of the next bunch goes towards the bottom of the previous bunch and you turn each one out to keep increasing the size of the wreath. Be generous with your layering, you can always trim back at the end; there’s nothing worse than a bald wreath!
5 Final touches
Add your little decorative touches to break up the green. If you have no real berries you can buy fake ones on wire from most florists. Add pine cones (if they are tightly closed, open them up by putting them in a lukewarm oven for half an hour). We added small clay stars that Kate has made for the people that attend her course, but you can also add other little decorations.
6 Perfection
Once you’re almost satisfied, you will need to tie a ribbon at the top to add that final touch. We had a very pretty Christmas red ribbon which really helped to complete the look. You will also need to add a discreet wire hook at the back of the wreath once you have measured where it needs to be against the door you aim to hang it on. Finally, you will need to soak the back of the wreath in a shallow tray of water. The hay will absorb the water and keep the foliage looking fresh until New Year.
7 Your wreath
Finally, hanging it up will help you decide if you need any extra flourishes, like berries or bows, or if there are a few stray pieces that need wiring in tighter or trimming off. It might not be a professional job, but creating something yourself in less than an hour is such a delight and really helps to get into the festive spirit. Kate’s wreath-making course this Tuesday at the Moorland Garden Hotel in Yelverton will teach you how to make a wreath and includes a two-course Christmas lunch in The Wildflower Restaurant, all for £28.50 per person. Kate will provide all the equipment and foliage as well as the Christmas ceramics that she has made in her Blue Button Workshop. It’s a perfect festive day for a group of friends to enjoy together, with a homemade wreath to take home at the end of it; one that you can be re-made again every Christmas. But places on this workshop are limited so please call 01822 852245 to book a place.
Kate Trewartha-Wyatt runs craft workshops in which she demonstrates how to make a fresh Christmas wreath