How to make an Advent Wreath

Advent wreaths can be made fresh every year, or saved to last for years and years of enjoyment and tradition.


How to make your own Advent Wreath.

Recipe

For the braid wreath

1 ¼ cups water (more or less, depending on the weather)
4 cups all purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons active yeast
1 tablespoon cornmeal

1.  Bread Machine Method 

Put ingredients in machine bowl, water, flour then yeast. Select dough cycle and allow machine to follow through til end of cycle. Check in the beginning of cycle while dough is mixing to add more water or more flour. Dough ball should have a nice soft plump feel, not to squishy but not hard like a rock either. When cycle is complete punch down and remove dough from machine. Onto step two.

By Hand, the old fashioned way

Place flour into a bowl and form a well in the center.  Add water that is just about body temperature and sprinkle the yeast on top. After a minute or two begin to mix adding flour or water as may be necessary. Turn out onto lightly floured board and continue to knead for at least 5 minutes.  Place dough back into bowl, do not grease bowl,  and cover with a tea towel. Let Rise until dough is double in size. Punch down and turn out onto board. Onto step 2.

2.  Place dough on lightly floured board and let rest for 5 minutes, this will make the dough easier to work with and to braid.  Divide dough into three pieces and roll each piece into three long sausage shapes.

Using a little water attach the three pieces at one end and then braid into long rope.  On a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal place braid and form into a circle. Attach ends to form circle. 

Brush top lightly with milk. Bake in 400 degree oven for 35-40 minutes or until instant read thermometer reads 200 degrees. Remove from oven place on cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

For the decorations

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup salt
1 cup warm water

In a large bowl blend the flour and salt.  Add the water and mix.  Your hands are the best for this job.  You’ll want to knead this dough for about 3 - 5 minutes.  The more you knead the smoother it will become. You can add a bit more water if necessary but you don’t want this dough to be  sticky.  Think pliable clay and shoot for that.
Using your clever hands and creative mind form the different shapes you want for your wreath. In years past we’ve make stars, Jesse tree symbols (the red apple is always a good one as is a rainbow) or grapes and wheat as in the pictures.  

Place your shapes on an ungreased cookie sheet, we use one of our pizza trays, and bake in a low oven, 200 degrees, for 1 to 2 hours depending on the thickness of your decorations.  
When done they will be hard but not brittle.  The idea is to dry them more than it is to bake them.



Painting and assembly

1.  Using your wreath as a pattern, place wreath on a piece of cardboard and trace. Any box works fine for this.  Cut out the cardboard slightly smaller than the wreath and glue the wreath onto the cardboard using a hot glue gun.  

1.  Paint your decorations with any acrylic paint.  We like the small bottles of acrylics found at any craft or discount store.  Costing from 59 cents and up, they dry quickly and there is always a big assortment of vibrant  colors to choose. Inexpensive paint brushes can be found at the same stores, look in the kids section not the artists section for the inexpensive brushes. This can be a messy process so be sure to spread out plenty of newspaper.
We used a small brush to paint the grapes a purple, the color is darker the the picture shows, and we accented a few grapes painted gold. The grape leaves are green and touched with a bit of gold and we left the wheat the natural color of the dough but brushed a little gold accent on these also.


2.  Using a hot glue gun begin first by gluing on the grapes one at a time to form clusters. Next place and glue the leaves. Lastly glue the  wheat stalks and top with the wheat tops.

3.  When all pieces are dry and cool,  spray with a clear gloss acrylic sealer.  You can find this at the craft store.  If you have it on hand you can also use marine spar varnish, this makes it super shiny and with a few coats and plenty of drying time your wreath  can last for more than one advent.

4.  Allow to  dry completely.  Place candles and enjoy.

Advent Wreath, A Tradition of Hope

Every year, our family has made an Advent wreath. Sometimes we used evergreens topped with pine cones sprayed gold and silver and decorated with lights.  One Advent  we  used Christmas cards from years past, sealed with clear glue and sprayed shiny, the images of Our Lady and her Babe dancing in a circle round the candles expressing the Hope that Advent works to strengthen our hearts. This year though, we made a wreath that we have made many times before.  Its one we have given as a gift to friends who also wanted to make Christmas preparation a time of living Advent instead of purchasing pleasure.

Made of bread, our Advent wreath is filled with the symbols of our Holy Catholic faith. The circle of  bread has a twofold symbolism.  The carefully woven braided circle is a symbol of eternal life, that never ending reality for which we all hope. The bread itself reminds us of the Bread of Life, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus, He who ascended into Heaven and yet never left us, returning to us each day hidden under the appearance of bread and wine at each and every Holy Mass.  And with this in mind we topped this year’s wreath with stalks of wheat and three clusters of grapes, representing not only  the gifts of bread and wine offered by the priest at Holy Mass but also to remind us that God is three Divine Persons yet only One Eternal and ever living God.   Surrounded by four candles, three purple and one rose, the wreath is a reminder of the special joys of  expectation that the season of Advent brings. As a child, I remember lighting the candles on the Advent wreath before prayer and feeling the excitement and joy of Christmas coming upon us. Sometimes, especially when we were small, the prayer was only an Ave Maria  offered up to Our Blessed Mother. 
On her special days, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Guadalupe both celebrated during Advent, a special statue or white candle was placed in honor of Our Lady along with a special treat for the family like snow ball cookies or Mexican cinnamon cocoa. As Christmas approached dad would coax us to sing a song with the lighting of the candle. We were reminded it wasn't Christmas yet and learned beautiful hymns like O Come Emmanuel and O Come Divine Messiah.  Some years we tried more formal approaches with little prayer booklets with special Advent prayer selections, but the simple songs and Aves are still the best remembered.  
May you have a Happy Christmas and a Blessed New Year,
--Galilee Riggio