How To Make A Wreath.

Yesterday for my art time with Clair we decided to make holiday wreaths for our doors. I will step you through the basic process which is really quite simple, and as Clair said yesterday, “This is so much more fun than I thought it would be!”

First you need to acquire the base for your wreath. Here is a shot of the back of mine. You’ll want the kind that is made of straw and wrapped in cellophane. You can find theses at any craft store like Michaels Arts and Crafts or Joannes Fabric. An 18″ wreath like the one I used will cost about $6, but if you use a coupon from Michael’s Arts and Crafts you can get it for $3.

While there pick up some floral pins which look like this. You can get a box of 50 for about $2, I’d get 2 boxes to be sure to have enough for one wreath.

The next thing you’ll need to do is acquire some greenery for your wreath. Look around your property or even a neighbor or friends, you’ll be surprised what you find once you start looking. Anything that is an evergreen or keeps it’s leaves for the winter will usually work well. Dried twigs and branches are also a nice addition. Don’t forget to use your gloves and pruners. And gather a lot, you’ll use much more than you think, really pack it on for a full effect.

The more colors and textures you can gather, the better!

And Christmas music is a must. Clair and I are partial to Andy Williams.

Work outside if you can, it’ll be much easier to clean up your scraps outside than inside. Spread out  your materials so you can pick out the pieces you want to use easily, the more space the better. Clair and I found a sunny spot and used 2 large garden tables, which was perfect, but sprawling out on the ground with a blanket will work equally well.

Using pruners, trim off  3-4 different kinds of greenery from your stash to about 10-12 inches in length, you don’t need to be perfect, whatever works and feels right to you. Gather the pieces in a group and attach the greenery with the pin holding as much of each stems as possible, use 2 floral pins to attach each grouping so they don’t wobble around.

Next get another group of 3-4 varieties of greenery and overlap half of the first grouping you already attached and so on as you work your way around the wreath. I usually do the front face of the wreath, then add greenery around the outer part of the wreath and finish with the inner part of the wreath. And no worries, if you think you messed up, you can just remove the pins and replace as often as you like.

I do this every year, but for Clair this was her first wreath and it turned out great!

Mine wasn’t too shabby either. And for less than $10 and the added benefit of enjoying time with a  friend, you can’t beat it.

When finishing you can fill in gaps with more greenery and add a bow. I thought mine looked great without a bow. If you decide to do this project yourself, have fun with it, it really is a great way to kick off the holiday season!

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