Moss Advent Wreath

Growing up, lighting our advent wreath was one of my favorite traditions. I would fight with my sisters over who would light it and blow it out...and my girls are making sure to carry on that part of the tradition too :)

Last year I made a sort of shoddy moss wreath. It was supposed to look like Martha's...

but alas, I'm impatient and insisted on an instant result while the girls napped...briefly...and it looked like this...

which was fine except that combined with the old window and gold ribbon it looked sweet and country and I had wanted it to look rustic and cool, ah well.

This year I dissassembled it
 
and decided to turn it into our advent wreath....

I took a candle form:

affixed it to the wreath form with sisal twine:

And stuffed preserved sheet moss (taken form last year's wreath) into the entwined branches:

 And then wound it with the ribbon form last year's wreath...which I might change for something else if I happen across the right ribbon or piece of fabroc...or I might just use clear or green thread instead to make it look more natural

Next, the three purple and one pink candle went in...but i still need to take a picture

I've always been in love obsessed with moss, which of course made marrying Rich a no-brainer :)

We have little bits of it worked into a lot of places, even my cheese dome..

which the girls and I turned into a little terrarium by layering moss form our back yard over a little bit of charcoal. We sprinkle it with water every couple weeks, and so far, it's stayed green for months.