Festive fun that's NOT online

This time of year is usually packed full with fun and interesting things to do. Whether you celebrate Chirstmas or not, there's usually some prettty cool pop ups to visit or activites to try out, but this year is different. So very, very different. There are no ice rinks, no Winter Wonderland (if you're in London), no Santa's Grottos for the kids, and no festive markets drawing the crowds. So what are we doing this year? I keep reading about how many things are going on, online.

It's fantastic that some things are being made available online, and I encourage you to support people and businesses through the online events they are putting on, but my gosh, I am getting pretty done with the screen time for the year.

My suggestion? Make a wreath! Gather materials from outside, get some wire, make a cup of tea and sit back for 2 hours, threading the natural materials together. It's wholesome, festive and crafty.

Here's the video I used for instructions. Below are the photographs of what we made, all in a day. I've never made a wreath before, but I was so thankful for doing something away from the computer.

Click through the slideshow to see the finished pieces. For first timers, I'm happy with the results.

Quick tips: - use pliable willow branches for the bases, and weave through thinnner ones to make them stronger. - we picked up various evergreen plants, and found pine cones on the ground where they'd fallen. make sure to dry them out before using! - careful with spiky holly and wire, it's quite painful. - ours ended up a little bit sparse. Gather enough materials to make lots of smaller bunches and line them closely to one another for a filled out circle. - pine cones are great for filling in gaps and covering up where the wire is!

Good luck!