Autumn in house, customs on hat

When autumn arrives, nature turns colorful. The forests and gardens appear in warm tones before they retreat into hibernation. To capture the splendor of color, self-tied wreaths are particularly well suited. Whether as an ornament on the door, as a decoration in the house or even as a custom accessory, it is used here with us. How you too can make such a wreath and what it has more precisely with the customs at the hat, you will learn here.

 

Nature as a supplier

The materials for an autumn wreath you will find almost entirely during a walk through nature. Find a route through the meadows and forests and don't forget about your garden, where there are surely some flowers to be found. Hydrangeas, lantern flowers or rose hips are a good tip to decorate your autumn wreath. When cutting the branches and flowers, make sure to get the right length. Depending on the size and thickness of the wreath, the stem should be around 10 inches long. Even if you see many when collecting, rare species should not be cut. Foreign gardens are also taboo ;)

Preparation

In addition to the collected flowers and twigs, you will need a thin but sturdy wire for tying. You can find this in any hardware store. You can also get a wreath blank made of straw or make one yourself from wire, for example from a coat hanger. Depending on the desired thickness of the wreath, you can wrap it with newspaper to make it plumper. Garden shears are good for trimming the stems of the flowers while tying.

The tying

Start your wreath by attaching the binding wire. Wrap the wire around the blank and fix the short end in the blank. Then place a small bouquet of flowers and twigs on the blank and secure it with wire as well. Repeat this process continuously, gently moving the bouquets towards the ends of the stems. Make sure that the stems and the blank are covered during the process. After several passes, return to the beginning of the wreath. Hide the stems of the last flowers and the wire end under the first flowers. Once you cut the wire and attach the end to the blank, your wreath is finished.

Wreath making in customs

In rural parts of Austria, the custom of "Kranzlbinden" or "Kranzlstechen" is firmly established. In this tradition, the girl invites a lad to go to the feast together. The boy brings his hat to the girl a few days before the event. The girl decorates the hat by tying a wreath around it and gives it back to the boy in time for the feast. The peculiarity is that the lad must wear the decorated hat until midnight and he must never take it off. In addition, tradition dictates that the couple must not dance with other dance partners during the entire evening.

A self-tied wreath is an inexpensive option to let autumn into the house. As a table decoration, home decoration or even as a headdress, as in wreath making, it brings a lot of joy. It's rare that a decoration makes it onto the heads of fellows and is subsequently allowed to decorate the house as well. Provided that the hat finds its way home...