Make your own Christmas wreath: Step by step guide
Sure you can buy a wreath at Costco, or a fake one from Hobby Lobby, but there’s something extra special about creating and designing your own to be exactly what you want for your front door.
Materials Needed:
-Various evergreens (I like to assemble with 3-4 different types and textures. If it’s still green by mid-November, it’s fair game. Pine and cypress are always great choices, but I even grabbed some branches from my boxwoods in the front yard and gathered other random greens from around the house)
-Wreath Wire (I like the kind that is one continuous spool, rather than pre-cut, because I find that using the same wire without ever cutting it makes the wreath more sturdy.)
-Ribbon
-Wire cutters
-Flower snips or pruners
-Wreath base (if you’re super crafty, you can bend your own sturdy vines to make a base, but I just use a metal one from Hobby Lobby)
Step 1: Gather greens around your yard
You’ll want to choose 3-4 different evergreens to add texture and dimension to your wreath. Cypress, pine, boxwood, eucalyptus, ivy, holly, etc.
Cut 35-40 stems of each type of greenery so you know you have plenty for the bunches you’ll put together for the wreath. The length of each stem you cut should be about 3-5 inches.
Step 2: Bunch the greens together
I begin making tiny bunches of each ingredient. The one pictured contains 3 cypress branches, 2 pine branches, one eucalyptus branch, and one evergreen vine I found in my yard.
Each bunch is tied together with cut wire, about 6 inches long and wrapped around the base.
Make 12-15 total bunches, depending on the diameter of your base.
Step 3: Arrange the bunches on the base of your wreath, criss-crossing as you go around. Attach with wire.
This is where the giant spool of wire comes in handy. I wrap the wire around both the base and the bunch several times, then move on to the next bunch without ever cutting it. This leads to a sturdy wreath.
Sorry for the lame drawing, it seemed the best way to illustrate how to lay out the bunches!
Step 4: Attach the ribbon of your choice
You can secure your ribbon using wire, and be sure to use ribbon long enough that reaches the bottom
There you have it! It’s always ideal to actually watch someone create a wreath, and I will likely lead workshops on this in the future, but for now this should give you a good start!
