One of the wreath chairs took a bad fall going home after wreath making, and fell into the fence in front of the French Library.  The resulting head wound took three stitches to close.   Luckily there was no lasting injury other than a very black and swollen eye. A very kind fellow decorator stayed with her at Beth Israel until midnight.  Both were back at work the next day, but the injured decorator’s next wreath took a decidedly dark and macabre turn.  Since it was for her own family, our crack quality control crew said nothing at all.

Just one post today, wishing all our readers a very Merry Christmas, surrounded by family and friends.

The Wreath of the Day is often chosen from among our quirkier designs, because they are such statement pieces.  However, we fully decorated over 160 wreaths this year, and many are much more traditional, even stately, as the lovely wreath below demonstrates, with its red bow, gold and natural pine cones, juniper, magnolia leaves, and red glass balls.  Many may be comforted to know we can do the classics well, too!

As many of you know, we discontinued offering fully decorated large wreaths in 2014 due to time constraints.  Those who wished to order a large wreath (one constructed on a 16″ ring, fluffing to 31″ across) could buy one either plain or with a bow.  We lost a handful of customers, but most were content to either downsize to a standard or opt for a large wreath with a magnificent bow.  We did note, however, that many of our standard wreaths, once decorated, were actually quite substantial, and with embellishments could achieve a wingspan exceeding 27″ across, such as the beauty pictured below.

We were surprised this year by a special delivery box from our friends at The Lenox Hotel. General Manager Dan Donahue was especially pleased with the holiday wreath he ordered and stopped by to check out our operation.  When he met the hard working volunteers he decided we needed a treat, and on Thursday, during our wrap up, along came Bloody Mary mix, lemons, celery, olives, Tabasco sauce, orange juice, and sparkling wine.  We’ve never gone out in such style!  Thank you to the Lenox.  Below is a beautiful wreath made by the decorator who so impressed Dan.

We acquired some quirky new ribbon styles this year from a supplier on Albany Street, Hudson’s (www.hudsonboston.com). In some cases we were a bit wary of using these bows for customers we don’t know well.  The pictured wreath, for instance, has a gold fringed bow which could look torn or damaged if you didn’t examine it closely.  However, our designers love using something unique, and the fringe here was accented with Russian statice and dried yellow flowers.