The final touch on a house full of Christmas decorations is a big bright wreath on the front door welcoming guests and family in for the holidays.

One could purchase a ready-made wreath from a flower shop but that of course, takes away from the fun of making it yourself. And it doesn't take an artist.

Making your own wreath allows you to use items that are special to you or that blend in with the colour scheme in your home.

And Bermuda offers a number of items that could work as a base for a wreath such as dried twisted morning glory vine, small branches from a cedar tree twisted to form the shape of a wreath, palm leaves, and the vine from the running beach plants.

Former school teacher and principal Gloria Pearman has always been interested in making Christmas wreaths and other hand crafts.

"It was always something I was interested in and I always encouraged the children to do different things with their hands,'' Mrs. Pearman said.

She added: "I have always been interested in flower arranging and for as long as I could remember I decorated my house at Christmas time with garlands, wreaths, flowers and topiaries, and the theme would change from year to year.

"Sometimes the colour scheme would be red and gold, burgundy, or burgundy and white.'' Mrs. Pearman said Christmas lends itself to making wreaths which can be made in several different ways with many different things.

"I use to collect loquat leaves, which I would spray gold, and arrange them into a wreath. I then attached the leaves onto a base and used it as a centrepiece or it could be hung on the door. "Fruit was also included as part of the centrepiece for the table. Other wreaths which I have made consisted of a base made by twisting dried morning glory vine covered with old man's beard.

An oasis covered with plastic and formed into a circle was great for fresh flowers and greenery.'' Mrs. Pearman also said she has made wreaths with small cedar branches that were twisted to form the shape of a wreath topped off with a large red bow, which also creates a lovely aroma.

"And commercially brought styrofoam can be covered with ribbons, Christmas ornaments, nuts and other seed pods.'' She added that wreaths can be hung in various places from the usual front door, above the beds, above a fire place while smaller wreaths can be placed on door knobs in a house, or on Christmas trees.

Asked what she thought a wreath brought to a home during the holidays Mrs.

Pearman said: "I think a traditional wreath is as much a part of Christmas as the tree whether as a welcoming evergreen ring on the front door or as an exquisite concoction of dried flowers, berries and seeds hanging over the fire place a homemade wreath can look sensational and gives the home a festive look.

If you are going to take on the task of making your very own wreath Hang It All in Washington Mall has lots of knick knacks and bases for you to choose from.

Owner of the store Andrea De Campos Guerra said the store has a selection of wooden and wire wreaths.

"We have everything from dried preserved flowers to Christmas picks and bits for doing wreaths,'' Mrs. De Campos Guerra said.

She added: "We have ribbons, the wire wreaths for those doing centre pieces, styrofoam wreaths for fresh greenery and flowers and we have tons of plane grapevine wreaths.

"To decorate wreaths we have pine cones, berries in lots of colours. We have everything other than fresh things and we will also give people ideas if they are not sure about what kind of wreath they want to make.'' Mrs. De Campos Guerra also said the store carried paints in natural colours for those who want to spray their wreaths.

"We have all the fixings for Christmas decorating,'' she added.

Various flower shops around the Island also carry artificial wreaths with silk as well as fresh ones which will be coming in next week.