DIY Fresh Christmas Wreath


Fresh Christmas wreaths come with a high price tag at the holiday season. While worth a splurge to have the glorious smell of pine in the home, no need to pay $50 for a wreath when you can do it yourself for much less. Creating your own wreath is easier than you’d think and can be done at a fraction of the cost compared to store bought wreaths, especially when you save your materials from year to year.  
Additionally, you can make one with your exact specifications.  With a few simple tools and not a lot of skill, you can have your own wreath ready for the holidays in minutes. 

What you need:

Fresh Ever-Greenery 
Wreath Frame 
Garden Clippers
Wire Cutting Scissors
Floral Wire
Pinecones
Sprigs of Faux Berries
Garden Gloves



We’ll separate our ever-greenery into two categories: filler and decorative.
The filler is the less expensive, easy-to-obtain greenery that you can gather in large quantities. Examples like the noble fir, grand fir, or balsam fir seem to fill the tree shops at the holidays, making their discarded branches ideal for our filler portion of the project. Our local Home Depot store prepares Christmas trees for customers as they make their purchases, trimming off the bottom of the tree stump, and also clipping a few of the low-lying branches. My Home Depot tosses the discarded branches in a pile for patrons to take for free. These low branches are the perfect filler pieces for a Christmas wreath.

The decorative pieces of greenery that you will need can be found at your local specialty garden center. They will likely carry options for greenery starting in mid-November. Many options are presented in bunches for use in this very craft; or for holiday centerpieces, mantle décor, or a spray of greenery on a door or handrail. This is where I buy a small amount of specialty greens like cedars and white pine.  This is the most expensive purchase on your list. Expect to spend $8-$20 on these specialty items, more for multiple wreaths and less for just one wreath. 
You can be creative in how you obtain your greenery. If you are one who can take cuttings from your own shrubs and trees that need a trim, do it! I had some old juniper shrubs in my lawn at one point that I would use for greenery in the house, even year around.  

To begin, cut filler greenery into 12 inch lengths, leaving a nice piece of greenery on the tips.
Use wire to anchor to the frame, place one or two sprays of the filler greenery at an angle on the hoop, begin to wrap the wire around the greenery and the hoop, in a counter clockwise direction.
 With each wrap of the wire, add a new spray of greenery, paying attention to symmetry as you go. Perfect symmetry isn’t necessary; we can trim later to even things up. I tend to work in a counter clockwise direction, applying two layers of filler.  
When you have completed the circle, wind the wire around the frame 2-3 more times to secure the greenery to the frame.
Cut the wire and tuck the loose end into the layers of the wreath.
Next, cut several 6-inch pieces of filler to stuff into any areas of the wreath that needs a little extra volume. This is a good time to even up the symmetry by trimming any branches that extend out too far, or fill in any gaps that don’t appear full.  
The decorative greenery is applied next.  There should be enough hidden wire in the wreath to gently stuff the decorative greenery in to the layers of the filler, allowing the filler to self-secure. If you find that your wreath needs additional support to hold the greenery in place, you can certainly use additional wire to anchor the decorative greenery.
Finally, add faux berry sprigs and pinecones to nicely showcase the decorative greenery.  The pinecones will likely need a wire anchor to stay in place.
This is a formula to get you started in your own wreath-making.  Be creative and add other charming embellishments like a feather, bow, or lights. 
Fresh wreaths are an enchanting addition to your holiday decor. Enjoy all that the season has to offer!
Merry Christmas




Comments

Popular Posts