East Lansing Makers: The Wreath Lady

East Lansing Makers is a new series that introduces crafters, hobbyists and makers, providing them with a platform to share their interests and teach others interested in pursuing the same. If you have a craft or hobby you’d like to see featured, email ddufortpetty.eli@gmail.com. 

Kate Powers is not afraid of color or making a statement. Her bright pink front door is proof of that.

The East Lansing nonprofit development officer is known among her group of friends for the seasonal wreaths that adorn her front door, always perfectly coiffed with silk flowers and appropriately chosen holiday mementos. The look seems to follow the Coco Chanel advice of simple sophistication and avoiding cluttered, overstated designs.

Quite a philosophy for a simple front-door wreath, right?

Powers drew inspiration from her mom, who she said has always been brilliant with holiday decorating and keeping a homemade wreath at the front of the house.

“One year she came up and made me a fall wreath, and it just kind of went from there,” she said of her first creation 15 years ago. “We started off where she would go with me to the store and buy all the silk flowers and we would ‘work on it together,’ but she had the creative direction. I was more of an assistant initially.”

Through experience, Pinterest and learning about design elements, Powers said she eventually started working by herself.

“I start with an idea and it evolves,” she said. “I’ll probably start thinking about my summer wreath and pots in February, even though I won’t plant until May or June. It evolves over months. I might say I want all whites and greens, then I’ll go to the nursery and see what they have, or see trends, and work from that.”

Powers said she makes five, maybe six, wreaths each calendar year. Her first of the year is for Valentine’s Day, and that is replaced by greens and whites for St. Patrick’s Day. To that same wreath, she will add colored flowers — pinks, light blues and yellows — for Easter and spring.

She maintains a summer wreath between Memorial Day and Labor Day, typically using colors that match the flowers on her front porch.

Those flowers and the wreath change for autumn.

“Sometimes I put little pumpkins in it or this year I had acorns,” she said. “I used to do live plants — mums, ornamental cabbages, grasses — but the weather has been so unpredictable and those plants don’t like hot weather. It’s been so hot every fall that I started using artificial stuff in my pots, and I like it better because I don’t have to worry about it. After gardening all summer, having something that’s not time-intensive is really good going into the fall.”

For each of these wreaths, Powers uses a grapevine wreath form that she reuses until it is no longer useful — she has only gone through two in a decade and a half.

Her Christmas wreath is different. Powers uses a base of real greenery she purchases from Van Atta’s in Haslett. On that base, she adds ribbon and bows, small decorations and other items that strike her. Her wreath for this Christmas is based on her collection of nutcrackers.

“There’s a trend of ‘Ralph Lauren Christmas,’ but that’s what I used to just call Christmas: red, green, gold,” she said. “On the front porch, I’m using two large nutcrackers in my pots with greens and big bows. On my door wreath I have nutcracker ornaments and wreath scarves with nutcrackers on them.”

Powers said the initial cost to start making wreaths is anywhere between $80 and $150, noting that people can choose how much to spend on items like silk flowers.

“After that, once you have your form,” she said, “the only investment is the flowers. And once you’ve done it one year, if you want the same look, you can reuse the same flowers.”

But what about that bright pink door? How does Powers coordinate her decorations with the vivid entryway?

“I actually don’t,” she said. “I look at my door as a neutral. I’m probably not going to match it exactly. My home is gray, my door is pink, and I base it on what I want to do that season.”

“There are a lot of things I love and want in my décor, and some people might walk in and say, ‘This looks like florals threw up everywhere.’ My taste isn’t your taste, and that’s okay. The number one thing is your home should be comfortable. It doesn’t matter the size of your home, your furniture, your décor — if it feels comfortable and looks good to you, that’s your taste.”

Powers spoke on a challenge many people experience: what happens when two partners or friends share a home but might not share a similar style.

“That was difficult because he had ideas about how things were supposed to be,” she said. “He’s an amazing person and has good taste — he picked me! — but home décor is not within that realm. He’d admit that.

“It was difficult to meld our tastes. Now, 20-some years in, he’s more laid back than when we first moved in. That took a lot of time, training and sometimes doing things and waiting for him to notice. That’s pretty common with home décor. People should be comfortable where they are. It should feel beautiful to them, even if it doesn’t to someone else.”

Powers said she formerly got many of her flowers and décor from the now-defunct JoAnn Fabrics, but has also shopped at Michael’s. She has sought out local vendors for silk flowers and ribbon — finding shops in Lansing’s Old Town — but nothing East Lansing-specific yet.

She felt so passionate about crafting and home design that she partnered with a friend to open a storefront in Old Town last summer.

“I loved it,” she said, “but I also felt like my hobby was becoming work.

“I have a job I love, and I love design, color, fashion — those things are my hobbies. I don’t want to gatekeep. Anyone interested in learning how to put together a wreath or tie a bow — I want to share it. If someone asks for help, I’m fine giving it away. But that changes if it’s your business.”

She shares many of her supplies with close friends.

“If I used cardinals one Christmas,” she said, “you might see cardinals at another friend’s house the next year. It’s almost like a lending library. I have so many decorations, especially Christmas, and so many themes that I’ll loan things out. I’m not going to use it all in one year. If I tried, my house would look like Bronner’s — every room a different theme — it’d be hideous.”