Fresh Foliage Garlands

If Christmas wreaths brought out my insecurities, fresh foliage garlands brought out my happy centred side. Fresh foliage garlands were a new introduction this Christmas and I adored making them. They remind me of ribbons and anything ribbon related gets me going!

Back in July when Christmas was still far far away, I planned a garland workshop with a local bakery, Flour and Spoon. We wanted to deliver an alternative workshop to wreath making but still wanted to use fresh foliage. I’d made a few garlands before but wanted really feel the technique prior to teaching. To get the hours in, I created a collection of garlands to decorate another local business, Food, Leigh-on-Sea. I  supply weekly table and toilet flowers to them and am given free reign to decorate the restaurant for Christmas. You can see last years natural decorations in this blog post.

Collectively we wanted the decorations to feel natural and seasonal, to fit the ethos of the food.  The restaurant is decorated with a permanent selection of high shelves. I made garlands for each, exaggerating the drop with ribbons or extra garlands.

I used a mix of tradition pine branches left from wreath making workshops mixed with dried flowers saved from the weekly table flowers. To finish I loved using a mix of orange and lime segments. The overall effected reminded me of candied fruit. Another great perk of these fresh foliage garlands was the ease in which they were installed. They could simply be popped onto the shelves with a tiny amount of adjusting.

Inspired, I added garlands to any free surface of my home. From the outside window ledge to mantle. Garlands were my great love of Christmas 2025. More of this to come…

Whilst I’m still on the garland train. Teaching my first garland workshop at Flour and Spoon which an absolute pleasure. Roman made me feel so welcome. The venue is cosy as can be, coffee delicious and I left with two loaves of delicious sour dough. It was a perfect workshop to finish the year on. You can see a little reel I put together of the event here.

There is so much potential with garlands, a summer version using gyp and hydrangeas could look beautiful. A combination of foliage garlands and winter sticks would look incredible for a cosy winter wedding. If you like what you see, please get in touch to see how I can help with you.