...about a winning wreath: getting started.

A sneak peek at the wreath-in-progress for the winner of my holiday wreath giveaway. Amanda had a few non-traditional ideas for her custom wreath... she loves blues and purples... and she loves fairies! (I KNOW! Sooooo sweet!) Luckily, the color choices for holiday ornaments run the full rainbow spectrum... so I shopped first by color, keeping the choices lighter, and in the cooler range wherever possible, to keep it all icy.

But how to get our Tinkerbell on, that is the question! Glitter is a suitable stand-in for pixie dust, so no issue there. And while I found several fairy and winter sprite ornaments, I wanted this to be a grown-up, and fun-but-elegant wreath for the very hardworking lady of her house... so instead of using those ornaments, or pixies or even wings (and after a brief flirtation with making this a butterfly wreath!), I had an Ah-ha-ho-ho-ho moment... what would a wreath look like IF sprites and Winter fairies were the creators, not the subject? I had taken the same tactic when I used to donate wreaths to Ft. Lauderdale's Museum of Art's annual fundraiser... making wreaths inspired by the Three Kings, and another, Neptune himself. That's when the fun began.

I looked for elements (like the purple wire spheres) that had a playful quality, and a sense of magic, and "unexpectedness" to them...

For every wreath, I look for botanical elements to add volume and textural interest to the basic wreath form, and I found tinker-bell green glittered mini fronds, plus some gold and green glittered faux eucalyptus. Fill and texture... check!

Icy-blue berry sprays accomplished another thing I love to do with wreaths... provide a bridge between man-made and botanical.

Mid-way through my shopping trip, I realized the palette was looking maybe a little too "Barbie's Dream Wreath," and I wasn't sure the wreath would look Christmas-y enough. But how to keep it wintry and seasonal? Snowflakes, and THE shopping score... fuchsia jinglebells! (Jingebells find their way into almost every wreath I've ever made.)

And, I wasn't sure all the colors were working... but on my last stop, another score... beaded ornaments, looking a bit like the proverbial sugar plums (Hey! Sugarplum Fairies!! NOW we're on to something!) had just about every color in all the other pieces, suddenly making sense of the whole palette (a lot like the way pillows, area rug or a piece of art can tie a room's worth of décor together).

And they were plastic-based, not glass (I also have to remind myself with every purchase that this wreath has to safely ship, but I could not resist the "soap bubble" ornaments. The teardrop-shaped ornaments have a more sturdy shape and thicker composition, so they should make the trip just fine.) Stay tuned for how it all comes together!

Interested in other tips on how to pull a wreath together? Check here!