It's popular to say that you are "going green" in this recycling-conscious society, but Jeannie Gossard seems to have taken the phrase a bit literally.

Not only is the manager of the Rapid City Club for Boys Thrift Store using donated decorations to adorn the handmade Christmas wreaths, she is also recycling the trimmings from the club's Christmas tree cuttings to create the fragrant holiday hangings.

And you can't get much greener than "pine."

This is Gossard's fifth year selling locally made wreaths during the Club for Boys Christmas tree sale, and she now has a few of Santa's elves on site lending their expertise.

Self-proclaimed elf Tammy Hackens has many years of wreath-making experience. The former owner of Barnwood Blessings crafts has created wreaths for herself, as gifts, as a former member of the Garden Club and with a PTO group for many years. The ability to turn a pile of tree boughs into a beautiful decoration is a gift, Hackens said - and you've either got it, or you don't.

"I have a feel for how it should look," Hackens said as she selected trimmings for a 24-inch wreath. "It's kind of a knack."

The air in the wreath-making tent on the back end of the Christmas tree lot is festive and fragrant - piles of tree cuttings are sorted into boxes, waiting their turn to be washed and sorted by tree type into shopping carts, where the wreath makers hand-select and design each wreath.

There are about five or six different types of trees used, including Black Hills spruce and pine. Christmas music fills the air and mingles with the laughter and chatter of the trio of wreath makers.

"I'm loving it," Hackens said of her part-time job making wreaths. "This is the only way to go. I get to be outdoors."

"This is my vacation," Gossard agreed, a welcome change from working in the store. "I get to come out here and putter."

Trudy Brassfield began working with Gossard on the wreaths last year. She said she was more than happy to join her old friend on the project. All three women are from New Underwood and have known each other for years.

"She was at my wedding," Hackens said of Gossard.

In previous years, Gossard made the wreaths by hand, using metal coat hangers and 20-gauge wire to form the wreaths. Last year, the group got more high-tech with the donation of a "wreath machine." Now they lay the arranged boughs in a wreath form and press down on a pedal, which compresses metal hooks that hold the boughs to the form. The machine saves lots of time and enables the group to make about 20 wreaths a day. This year, the store bought an additional machine so two people can make wreaths at a time.

In addition to wreaths, the ladies also make swags and crosses, which are popular for placing on gravesites, Gossard said. The cost of the wreaths ranges from $20 to $40, with swags costing a bit less.

"We can hit any price range you want," Brassfield said.

While the store has been making the wreaths for several years, Gossard said many still don't know that the ladies are out there. All of the proceeds from the sale go to funding the Club for Boys, Gossard said. Last year, wreath sales made about $4,400 for the group, she said, and she'd like to double it this year, though she admits that goal might be "a little aggressive."

"We'd like to provide even more services for the boys," Gossard said, including finding a larger location for the thrift store so the club can move some of its services into that space. The Rapid City Club for Boys Thrift Store supplies 40 percent of the funding for Club for Boys, Gossard said.

The boys also have fun working at the tree lot, Brassfield said, and they are quite the salesmen.

"It's a great thing for the kids," she said. The boys help with trimming the branches down to a useable size for the wreaths and sometimes with wreath making.

The most popular wreaths are the 24-inch models, Gossard said. They also can be personalized with items from home. The ladies are willing to add anything customers bring in to the wreaths. Sometimes they even take donations to the store, including Christmas ornaments, ribbons and skates and add those to the wreaths. But the most popular just come with a red bow.

The wreaths can last well into January if placed on an outside door, Gossard said. She doesn't recommend sandwiching them between a glass and solid door - as Brassfield did one year and ended up with a "cooked" wreath.

The store also will take orders for specific styles of wreaths, such as those made out of a particular type of branch or with a certain kind of bow.

For information or to purchase a wreath, stop by the Christmas tree lot at 319 N. Third St. or call the Club for Boys Thrift Store at 341-8878. To purchase a wreath, go to the tree lot; after you've selected your wreath, you'll be given a tag that you take inside the thrift store to pay for it.

Contact Savannah Cummings at 394-8434 or savannah.cummings@rapidcityjournal.com.