Advent, Advent,
ein Lichtlein brennt.
Erst eins, dann zwei,
dann drei, dann vier,
dann steht das Christkind vor der Tür.

This is a traditional German poem about Advent and almost every German child knows it by heart. From the 4th Sunday preceding Christmas, ever Sunday a candle from the advent wreath. The kids get more and more excited each week as it means Christkind (Santa Claus in German form) is coming soon.

This year, I decided to go to Merz and Benzing, the most beautiful lifestyle store in Stuttgart, and probably one of the best in Germany, and asked for their wisdom on how to make Advent wreaths. The lovely Johanna, one of the florists from Merz und Benzing, created this stunning wreath on the day. Aspiring to be a florist since she was young, Johanna is not only passionate about flowers, but also extremely talented. I was very lucky to see her performing her magic. Everything looked so easy and effortless when she did it, but in reality I know it took a lot of practice and experience to create such a beautiful wreath.

What you'll need:

Straw wreaths
Floral wire - thin to bind the green
Floral wire - thick to stabilize the candles.
Floral shear
Wire cutter
Flowers and greens in use: boxwood, hollyoak, Eucalyptus populnea, rosehip, thyme (basically green and flowers with different colors and shapes that can build a nice contrast)

How it's made:

Lay out the greens and flowers by type, wreath, and tools. So you can easily reach them when needed.
Make a small bouquet from three types of green or flowers: such as boxwood, hollyoak, and rosehip. Use the floral wire to bind the bottom part of bouquet firmly on the straw wreath. Arrange that it cover the top, inward and outward of the ring nicely.
Then the next bunch so overlapping packed to the rim that it covers the wire from the previous, and so worked up around the entire wreath.
At the end you have to watch out a bit because the last green bouquet under the arms of the first to be tied on the wreath so that nothing sticks out.
Once the wreath is finished, prepare the four candles for the wreath, an extra candle for heating the floral wire, and wire cutter. Light the extra candle, hold the floral wire over the candle to heat it for about 30 seconds. While the wire is still hot, stick into the bottom of the advent candle. Repeat this step four times to have four wires spread evenly at the bottom. Cut the extra wires into the same length, around 4 cm. Insert the candles into the wreath evenly. To make it extra firm, can use a hot glue gun to put some glue at the bottom of the candle before sticking on the wreath.
Then if you like, you can put some more Christmas decoration onto wreath. That's it.

I hope this post has inspired and helped you in creating your own Advent wreath. Feel free to share your creation on Instagram and tag me @lumadeline. Happy Advent!