Monday, December 7

My Semi-Homemade Christmas Wreath...


When I think of a "homemade" wreath, I think of something that was created using small bundles of greenery, sprigs of berries, floral wire and tape, and lots and lots of time - creating something from nothing.

Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of time or money.

So I set out to make a wreath for our front door that would cost me very little of both - a quick and inexpensive project that I would, hopefully, love just as much as a the kind of wreath that I would normally buy at Christmas time.

That was the goal, anyway!

I wanted it to be big and fat, super lush, and able to take up the entire width of our front door.

And I did it! Here's how I achieved it...

To start, I bought two faux pine wreaths at 50% off - one 36" and one 24". Both pretty scrawny on their own, I figured that if I set the small wreath inside the larger one I would be able to make it look as if it was one big wreath...


Each wreath has a thick wire frame to hold it's shape...


I just needed to tightly connect them and make it stable enough to hang...


In order to get the frames lined up correctly, I had to elevate the outer wreath, so I grabbed a few lengths of 2x4's to place only under the larger wreath. It made it just the right height and so much easier to work with...


Elevating the larger wreath created a "bowl" in the center that lined up the inner ring of the large wreath and the outer ring of the small wreath...


I used 20 gauge wire, which was definitely strong enough to hold the frames together...


But for extra strength (and peace of mind) I twisted the wire between the frames to make it more rigid...


The result looks like this...


I made sure that I kept the wreaths the same distance apart the whole way around, so that my finished wreath would look even...


Once the frames were connected, it looked like this...


There were plenty of holes in the wreath when I flipped it over to take a look at it...


...but I gave it a good fluffing and, as I had hoped, I was unable to tell that it had begun as two separate wreaths.


But the true test was to hang it on the door and see how it was going to look...


I liked it!

A lot!


On to decorating it.

Frosted berries on wired stems made it super easy to tuck them into the wreath and wrap the ends around the wreaths wire frame...


I added a red, satin ribbon to make it appear as if the wreath was hung by the ribbon, but I really have it hanging from a large suction cup hanger on the glass door...


I am not a bow kind of girl, when it comes to wreaths. But I wanted the ribbon to create a bit more interest than it would have had if I had just wrapped it flat around the wreath. I added the knot to see how it would look and I really like how it turned out...


How did I attach the ribbon to the glass door frame?

Duct tape, my friends!


No one can see it and it works like a charm!

I got green ornament hooks for this project because I wanted to use them to attach my ornaments without seeing any silver or gold (as you would from the typical hooks)...


I bought several tubes of shatter-proof ornaments for $1.00 each, sticking with the same colors that I have decorated with in our entryway...


...lime green and red...


Just a quick twist of the ornament hook and the color was placed on the wreath...



I love how it turned out!


But even more, I love how inexpensive and easy it was!


Everything for this project was purchased at the Dollar Store, with the exception of the two wreaths, which I got at JoAnne's for 50% off. The large wreath was $8.00 and the smaller wreath was $6.00. All told, I spent less than $20.00 on this project.

In the end I have a big, wide, colorful, pine wreath that fits in perfectly with my front door Christmas decor.


Don't get me wrong, I love a big, fresh, real pine wreath!

But I *think* I just might like this one better...

and at half the price of a real one, I know that Will likes it better!




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