Fresh Wreaths & Garlands

It’s time for fresh wreaths! I absolutely love making them and working with these natural materials.

A little bit about my wreath making story

I began making wreaths 13 years ago, initially it was to decorate our first home with our newborn baby. I’ve experimented lots over the years and now know which evergreens will best hold their colour and shape and which ones to avoid indoors because they are a mess to clean up.

This is a look at 2018 when I became completely obsessed with making wreaths and filling our home, inside & out with fragrant greens. I used only material from our tree for the evergreen portion of these wreaths and garlands.

I used Blue Spruce from our yard and added eucalyptus. These large bows I made with silk-look material to make a big statement, but in a neutral colour.

In 2019 we moved to Kelowna, where I now had Pine available to use from our yard and I adapted my designs. When I first started selling wreaths I was able to source enough material from our yard but it wasn’t long before I had to source elsewhere. I had started making eucalyptus wreaths in 2017 and sharing them online but didn’t sell them until 2019.

Wreaths & Garlands 2025

Here’s a look at the wreaths and garlands I have available this year. I have dyed more silk for the ribbons which add a bit of colour and the finishing touch.

If you’re in the Kelowna area wreaths can be picked up locally, unfortunately I can’t ship them. If you’re not in the area I have the silk ribbons available and these do ship. They’re available in my Etsy shop or on my website.

Related Posts:

Eucalyptus Wreath DIY

Holiday Home 2018

Fall 2025

This is the time of year when I love to dress up the front door in a natural way. Every year I change it up slightly while still keeping some of the same basic elements.

Creating a Natural Front Door Display

This is what I use for my front door display to be maximize the use of each element.

• Ferns- Choose these in May and they’ll last until October.
• Heirloom Pumpkins- If you’re not planning to carve them, these are the best for cooking)
• Natural Fall wreath- It adds the extra layer of warmth – plastic isn’t the same!
• Grasses- You can use a fountain grass that will only last this season or if you choose a perennial water smart grass you can plan to plant it in your garden before the ground freezes.
• Fall Flowers- By choosing spring flowers that will still look good in early fall you can add only one small element to make it more seasonal.

These are the wreaths that I started making when we first moved to Kelowna in 2019. Each Fall I make a few. https://robynsantamaria.ca/products/fall-wheat-style-wreath

New – I started a YouTube Channel!

This year I started a YouTube channel with the help of my 12 year old – who was the newborn baby when I started doing home projects 12 years ago !!!! ( feels strange to write that).

This blog started as a place to share the projects I did to improve the look of our homes on a budget, using creative solutions and repurposing as much as possible. I have continued with quite a few small projects in the past few years but haven’t shown them here on the blog.

I will be sharing new projects on YouTube and also revisiting most of the projects from this blog and explaining more of my thoughts and design decisions. This blog has shown projects from 2 houses that we no longer live in but I have lots of pictures.

My intention is to share easy DIY projects & techniques to help spark ideas that could be applied to your home. Sometimes all it takes to transform a space is some imagination and a coat of paint — moulding never hurts either.

I’m passionate about using secondhand furniture. With all our moves across the country, we quickly learned that it’s best to sell almost everything and start fresh each time. It’s also like a game to search for the right pieces, plus the quality you’ll find is way better than a lower priced mass produced piece.

Here is where you can find me on YouTube If there is a particular project you’d like to know more about, leave a comment below and that could be my next video.

On Instagram I also share projects and some behind the scenes, I’m @shibangdesigns

This was my first home project in 2012 while pregnant and moving into our first home.

Simple, Natural Fall Styling

Here are a few ways I brought the natural beauty of the season to our home. I continue to believe that a few simple, natural elements are the best way to style – no thank you plastic leaves.

Use Real Leaves

Clip branches as the leaves begin to first change colour. Put them in water and the leaves will continue to change colour and dry out on the branch. Mine have lasted for the entire month of October. If you don’t have a tree to clip from, look for fallen branches after a storm.

Above: Maple leaves cut early October. Below: The same Maple leaves 3 weeks later.

Add Some Greens from the Garden for a Tablescape

This year we had a lot of squash vines growing from the compost so I added some to these pumpkins I bought for a natural Thanksgiving centrepiece. First I placed a linen runner, then added squash (these I bought ) and carefully tucked the ends of the vines into little jars so they’d last longer.

Create Little Seasonal Moments

I love to bring the outside in. Here in the coffee table I have a mini pumpkin we grew (by luck from the compost!). Collecting chestnuts, acorns etc and putting them in a bowl works too.

What I’m Making

This time of year I’m making wreaths and dyeing silk for hand torn silk ribbons. Here are a couple of my wreaths made with local, natural ingredients.

Here’s a peek at what’s coming up. There are several home projects I’ve done here but haven’t blogged about. Can you spot them?

More up to date projects on Instagram @shibangdesignshttp://www.instagram.com/shibangdesigns Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/ShibangDesigns

Vegetable & Fruit Garden 2023

Here’s a look at our vegetable garden and fruit trees in early July this year. It’s incredible to see the fruit and vegetables grow and be able to eat so much from right outside our back door.

With time we’re learning what works best for us and saving a lot of seeds to be ready for the next year. We let the kale, spinach, peas, cilantro, borage and calendula go to seed and drop their seeds right into the raised beds and surrounding areas. The wildness works for us!

Fruit Trees

Along the side fence I planted an apple, cherry and nectarine tree. There are orchards and vineyards all around Kelowna and I wanted to have fruit growing in our yard too.

Making a quintessential pie in the summer with fresh fruit that is picked from our garden was a new experience this year. We used crabapples from a tree that was already here and some currants from a plant our neighbour gave us.

Favourite Vegetables

Kale is my favourite vegetable and we filled the garden with this reliable, healthy, versatile and easy plant to grow. I’m happy when at least one plant goes to seed so I have seeds for the next year as shown below.

Since there is no city compost collection, we compost in our yard too. I have one tucked in the back corner of the vegetable garden. It has significantly reduced our garbage and makes me appreciate the natural cycle of plants not to mention it is a great addition to the soil.

I haven’t bought any leafy greens since mid May and we’ve been feeding our family and sharing kale with friends. The kids love planting seeds and we all love to see what grows.

Deer Fencing

Here’s a glimpse of what I started with and more info about how I designed and built the deer fencing can be found in this blog post. We were lucky to already have 3 raised beds connected to irrigation here. What I did was figure out a way to enclose the area to keep out the deer and maximize this dedicated growing space.

Hershey

This is Hershey, a 2 year old Newfoundland Poodle who we brought home in April. He needed a new family and we had a huge hole after losing our dog of 12.5 years, Cali, to old age.

Thinking about dogs and the role they play in so many lives has got me started painting dog portraits. Current pictures are on my Instagram @shibangdesigns

Easter Floral Ideas

Here are a couple of budget friendly ideas for this holiday weekend. I prefer to use potted plants when there’s nothing available in the yard to clip from.

Table Centerpiece

My sister had been holding onto a couple of dishes that had belonged to our Nonna and to me they seemed perfect for floral centerpieces.

I used pansies in their plastic cell pack for one and simply put the container directly into the ovenware.

They’re the right height for being in the table and after the weekend they can be planted outside. Plus pansies are perfect for garnishing food.

Celebration Arrangement

For this arrangement I used 2 containers of potted tulips. I chose ones that were at different stages in growth, one being quite small so that there is time for it to bloom a bit later.

A video of the steps are here on my Instagram

There are pinecones at the bottom for drainage as well as on top to fill in any gaps. Pinecones could be substituted for pebbles.

I put little glass jars into the soil to hold some little blossoming branches I cut. The arrangement will change with time as the tulips grow.

Once the tulips are finished I will plant them outside to bloom next year and the pinecones will go back outside.

Cali

In the end of February we had to put down our beloved Cali. He has been my companion with every house project on this blog until now. He lived a full and healthy age until 12.5 years and home just doesn’t feel the same without him.

Here’s a look back to one of my my first home blog posts from 2014 when we started out in our first home in Montreal.

Holiday Home 2022

It’s a few days until Christmas, the snow continues to pile up outside & the house is decked out in fresh greens.

Here’s a look at how I decorated our house this year. I used Cedar, Noble Fir and eucalyptus.

This year red ribbon has been popular in my shop and I used shades of it in our home too.

The constants for me are fresh wreaths inside & out, pine/fir boughs in every room & bathroom, a tree alternative like branches or this year our 5′ tall ficus wrapped with lights.

I made 3 wreaths for the front windows from the same boxwood plant in our yard that I use every year. The more I prune it, the better it grows back.

There are lots of plastic ornaments available at thrift stores that can be painted. I used homemade chalk paint to change the bright shiny blue to a matte off-white that reminds me of snowballs. Make sure to let the paint dry between coats

This garland on the mantle is made up of a bunch of jars from our pantry. Real ones dry up as soon as the fireplace is on so I wanted to try an alternative. It works well, I would advise using large, wide jars that won’t tip over and fall.

The bowl that holds the pinecones we found belonged to my Great Nana.

This black vessel was my Nonna’s and the ornament was made by my mum with leftover wool from a coat I made.

The cedar is real as lasts a few weeks as long as the water is topped up. At the end of the holidays I will take apart the wreaths & put the greens in the yard waste.

For the last couple of years I’ve been selling evergreen and eucalyptus wreaths locally. Here’s a peek at some of the ones I was making this year.

Happy Holidays!

Holiday 2022 – Decorating Plans

Winter has already arrived in our city so I’m skipping right to holiday decorating. The snow came before I hit publish on the Fall Decorating blog post.

Here’s a look at what I am making this holiday season, for sale in my Etsy shop & my website.

Linen stockings are available these 6 different neutral fabrics:

The stockings can be used for many years to come. Leaving them neutral and unadorned allows endless possibilities to accessorize to suit future decor too.

Handmade Quilt by @thehappythimble

Here are the same cream stockings, 2 different ways:

Last year I introduced 100% silk ribbons when I couldn’t find anything in stores that I liked.

The ribbons are only available in my Etsy shop. New this year are these rusty reds and browns.

Etsy Shop :

Upcoming Decorating Event!

I love decorating for holidays!

This year I’m so excited to be decorating a sustainable show home called Wilden Living Lab for the Homes for the Holidays Tour. It is a fundraiser for the Central Okanagan Hospice Association.

The theme is Locally Sourced & Locally Made. Tickets are available online for the event happening Nov 19th here in Kelowna.

I’ve been collecting driftwood, pinecones and local evergreens to make lots of fresh wreaths.

More to come with ideas for how to create a natural, sustainable Christmas atmosphere.

Looking for inspiration & tutorials?

There are lots available here, search “wreath” to find more on the blog.

DIY Rustic Sofa Table

Do you have projects that you procrastinate completing and then wish you had made it sooner?

This sofa table was like that for me. I had the plan, the wood sitting in the garage and even the lamp ready but without any motivation to complete it when in reality it was quite simple to make.

I love the look of a table behind the couch and had made one in our last house too. It’s a nice spot to put a lamp for reading light and also to make displays with seasonal branches.

Materials

• 2″x 12″ Pine Board – Cut to Size
• Kreg Jig for Pocket Holes
• Screws
• Wood Glue
• Chisel to Roughen Edges of Wood
• Wood Stain

I was able to use one 2″ x 12″ x 12′ pine board that was wide enough to hold the lamp and would be the perfect fit with our house. As with all my other projects I had the wood cut at Home Depot.

To assemble it I used my Kreg Jig to drill pocket holes. I only have a few basic tools and the Kreg Jig has been the best investment that I have used countless times.

These are the stains I used, a mix of what I already had from previous projects.

Here is what the room looked like before I painted the walls and fireplace.

Quilt Made by my Mum

The last part of the project was fixing up the lamp. The glaze was uneven and a bit chipped so I coated it with a layer or homemade chalk paint (which works for everything!) In an off-white.

Wood & Lamp Before

Wood & Lamp After

Sometimes making a table the right size is easier and less expensive than buying one and the materials may be better quality too.

Related Posts:

Sofa table stained with steel wool and vinegar.

Fireplace Makeover: A Simple Update with Paint

Homemade Chalk Paint

Old Lamp / New Look

A couple of weeks ago on Instagram I shared a clip of a recent lamp makeover. It is one of three styles I’ve done in the past few months.

Here are three secondhand lamps, all changed slightly. Sometimes it can be switching a lamp harp (about $5 at a hardware store) a lamp shade or for others paint was used as well.

Homemade Chalk Paint + Baking Soda

This lamp was the perfect size and shape but I didn’t like the flower on it. I added a couple of coats of homemade chalk paint, mixed with a bit baking soda to add texture. I don’t love the baking soda ( I know this has been popular online for awhile) but I found it rubs off easily. Maybe I used too much and should have put a top coat on.

This is the room where the lamp is going. Below is how the table originally looked, first brown and in an earlier coat of blue paint.

Wicker Lamps

These lamps were in excellent shape and all I did was switched to matching drum shades and did a white wash

Oversized Ceramic Lamps

This oversized ceramic lamp is my favourite. I loved the size, texture and colour of the base but not the way the shades sat up so high and the set wasn’t matching in height.

I wanted to keep the cost low and easily find the shades so I used ones from Home Depot and then changed the harp so the shade would sit lower.

These are in our bedroom on oversized nightstands.

My favourite projects are the ones that use creativity to reimagine something that already exists.

Studio

In an effort to reuse as much as possible I am now offering pillow covers made of boiled wool and soon linen.

The way that a coat of paint can change a room, so can switching pillow covers. These are made to work with existing cushion covers already in the home.

I have standard sizes available and can do custom as well. These materials pictures are all 100% linen and are available. More to come soon.