from Rubbish to Wreath

These are designed to last a few holiday seasons outside, but you can make your own indoor version – you just tie a lot of knots around a round thing!

1. Find something round! I gathered hula hoops from friends and neighbours, after a callout on local hard rubbish rescue groups. In the past I’ve made one out of a spare bit of irrigation pipe.

2. Make lots of strips to tie on. I spray painted some end-of-use outdoor advertising banners to the colour I wanted and then sliced them up into 30cm x 8cm (approx 13 inch x 3 inch) strips. LOTS of them. You can use fabric strips, plastic bags, ribbons, broken tinsel – really anything you can tie in a knot.

3. Tie them on to your round thing! I’m not gonna lie, it will take time. Do it while you watch the tv or listen to a podcast or something.

4. Decorate! I went to my local Vinnies and Sacred Heart op shops and bought up all the red and gold baubles. Then I used cable ties to tie them on and added a bow for good measure.

Here’s what one looks like:

And here’s what ten looks like!

And here’s a couple of other examples. The one on the right is made from fabric samples:

And here’s what they look like in-situ along Wingrove St and Railway Place in Fairfield, Victoria for Christmas 2024.