One of our most loyal volunteers, a very accomplished floral designer, has for years declined to decorate, preferring instead to organize materials, sweep the floor, and generally make herself useful in any number of other ways.  We always knew we were losing a valuable asset, but no amount of cajoling was effective, until this year, when the combination of being oversold and pressed for time, along with the appearance of this fabulous acid green ribbon and peacock feather accessories, convinced her to try her hand.  The result (one of a matched pair, shown below) was so spectacular that one of the project co-chairs switched the tags so these could go home with her.  The original client was sent an equally beautiful, but perhaps not so inventive, pair of wreaths.

This wreath was designed for a single guy who didn’t want anything too “weird” – no feathers, no flowers, strong design, for a condominium done primarily in earth tones.  The decorator rose to the task with this beautiful bronze design, with only the barest touch of a deep coppery red, in the rose hips and glass balls.

It’s sometimes difficult to mix two metallic tones, but we always want to give the customer what he or she wants.  Here, the request was for a gold bow with copper accents.  Last year the decorator had the identical order, and gave the wreaths a very different look, using gold tapestry ribbon and soft sheen gold and orange glass balls.  This year, she decided to use yellow and orange roses, along with soft gold cones and balls, and a twinkling of glittery copper accents.

We love this wreath, which is just over the top with materials.  Designed by one of our members for her own home, she played off the silver scroll in the green ribbon with touches of silver in the branches, silver glitter spray on the lotus pods, and pieces of white birch branches (not just the bark, but whole pieces of branches – look in the middle at the bottom, just above a bouquet of roses, protea and green and melon colored glass balls.)

The client asked for red – bright, bright red.  We must admit, this wreath is the epitome of Christmas cheer, and can be hung indoors or outdoors.  A bright bow such as this one also is appropriate for recessed doorways which are not top lit, since the wreath will really pop from the street.