The Garden Club of the Back Bay’s wreath week isn’t all about decorating and delivering – we also eat well.  Early on we decided never to lose the services of a loyal volunteer because he or she needed to have lunch.  We begin each morning with coffee and tea, and a variety of muffins, scones, and coffee cakes.  Clementines and cider are available as well.  Lunch is catered in each day from a different provider, so no one is bored, and there are always vegetarian options.  Seltzers, sodas, chips (need that salt!) and snacks are plentiful.  Afternoon brings tea and cookies.  One loyal member who winters in Nevada sends homemade biscotti in a variety of flavors.  This year we even had some leftover Halloween candy bars.  No one admitted to wanting them, but they were all gone by the end of the week.  We also bring in paper goods, band aids, tissues, and Crisco for cleaning hands (rub hands stained with pine tar and sap well with the Crisco, wash with soap, and you’re good to go.)  As evening progresses, we dive back into the sandwiches or pizza, to keep up our energy levels, since our days are long.  Below is a wreath with an artichoke accent, one we dried rather than ate.

We make beautiful bows for the Garden Club of the Back Bay holiday wreaths.  We don’t skimp on the quality of ribbon, either.  All our ribbon is, at a minimum, 2 1/2 inches wide, sometimes wider, and is wired on the edges.  The cost of each roll varies, and we do try to buy on sale, often at the end of the season, but in order to keep our customers happy and our decorators intrigued, we purchase a variety of colors and patterns.  Sometimes, on the roll, our members wonder what we were thinking when we bought the ribbon.  Black and gold?  Buffalo checks?  Purple?  Polka dots?  Yet, once made up, these ribbons sparkle with life.  To see them being made, visit :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Od4RWBu6sw.     Below is a close up of one of this year’s new patterns, a sparkly red brocade over a bronze/green background.  Unfortunately, we can’t guarantee any specific design from year to year, since often the manufacturers don’t keep the same stock in production.  We do promise that all the bows will be beautiful.

The Garden Club of the Back Bay’s wreaths are known for  beautiful natural accents, but sometimes these accent items can look pretty dull in their natural state.  Too much brown, too much gray, and suddenly a wreath looks somewhat dark and dirty.  The obvious solution is to add just a bit of spray paint for brightening.  Gold has gilded appeal, and gold can be a rich, burnished amber or bright yellow, depending on the brand of paint.  Silver can look like platinum, or can look like battleship gray if we’re not careful.  No one wants a wreath that looks like a radiator.  Copper is especially effective with some of our plaid bows, and even a clear glaze can make a dull cone look shiny and iced.  Sometimes we roll a pine cone in a puddle of white paint for a snow tipped look, or put a bit of glitter spray on a branch.  We hope our customers don’t shy away from these effects, since we very carefully control how much we add to each wreath.  Unless a customer asked for a treasure from a pirate’s hoard, we use paint with discretion.  In order to add these colors, we set up a portable tent on a parking space at the rear of the Church, covering the ground with plastic tarps.  Boxes and aluminum disposable tins are placed there, and our decorators aren’t allowed to bring items back to the decorating room until they are thoroughly dry.  We can’t have everyone woozy from inhaling fumes.  The silver wreath below is accented with pearls and cardinals – truly a winter wonderland.

The Garden Club of the Back Bay’s wreath project heartbeat is the Assignment Desk, where decorators receive instructions enabling them to create the beautiful wreaths we sell.  The ladies at the desk must control a number of matters – they decide which wreaths are done in what order, give out the precious assignment tags and record who is doing each wreath, coordinate the bow selection if a client has chosen a specific ribbon, take in new orders, collect late payments, and oversee quality control.  There is rarely a lull.  Periodically they update the room on the number of wreaths completed, and most importantly, the number of wreaths still to be done.  When delivery deadlines approach, they make sure the wreaths are upstairs for loading or pick up. Pictured below is member Judith Fleming holding a special order (extra large) wreath destined for the lobby at 180 Beacon Street while the desk determines if the wreath is ready for its close-up.