Make your own Christmas Wreath
The history of the homemade wreath goes back for centuries. The early Romans would gift the evergreen branches to family and friends at the beginning of each year to wish health and strength upon them. The branches were then twisted and shaped into simple wreaths. It is believed that the wreaths were then placed on doors to symbolize joy and victory.
Traditional Evergreen Christmas Tree
In Christianity, the circular shape represents eternity or life never ending – Christ. Originally, the Christmas wreaths were decorated with four candles around the circle, and one in the centre. The centre candle was lit on Christmas Eve to symbolize the arrival of Jesus Christ.
Traditional Holly Christmas Wreath
Also, for wreaths made of holly, Christianity believes that the holly leaves represent the thorns on Jesus’ crown when he was crucified. The red holly berries symbolize the blood that Jesus shed for his people.
How to Make a Christmas Wreath
Once you have your inspiration, gather all of your decorating components and accessories for your wreath. Next, make sure you have all of the required tools based on your design. A circular base, scissors, hot glue, tape, and super glue are the typical tools required.
How to make a Christmas Wreath
Making a Christmas wreath from scratch can be difficult to form into a perfect circle. In order to make your life easier, try using a Styrofoam or wire base as those shown below to get started. Once you have your base, all you need to do is decorate till your heart is content.
Last but not least, make sure that you add a ribbon on the back of your wreath if you want to hang it on display. Make sure that you use extra adhesive as this will have a lot of weight and movement throughout its display.
Protecting Your Christmas Wreath
A DIY wreath can be created within an afternoon and bring the holiday spirit to your home for years. In order to keep your pretty wreath protected, make sure and keep it in a cool and dry place. Once the holiday season is over, and the Christmas decorations go on clearance, it is the perfect time to grab a wreath case for that extra protection.
What do you need to make a Christmas wreath?
By Zoe William
Good news! A walk in the woods can provide you with a wealth of foliage and supplies to make your own Christmas wreath. Your local florist can help with the rest, and we’ve included some handy links to buy online if you’re not able to get out at the moment to shop in person.
- Wire frames are easy to work with and can be reused every year
- Eucalyptus has shimmery silver green leaves
- Seed heads, like the ones below from a poppy plant, can be as beautiful as flowers. Forage to source them or try this pre-picked pack of Lotus Flower Heads.
- Pinecones add focal points but keep them small.
- Aromatic bay leaves add a lovely scent
- Moss creates depth and retains moisture for your foliage
- Nigella is also known as ‘Love in a mist’
- Floristry scissors let you cut cleanly and accurately. We like these Wrought Iron Botanical Scissors
- Reel wire is so thin you won’t see it among your leaves
- Ribbon: Choose any colour of ribbon you like
How to make a Christmas wreath step-by-step
You Will Need
- Wire wreath frame
- Scissors (Floristry scissors or secateurs)
- Ribbon (Medium/large thickness)
- Moss
- Foliage and pine (A selection of hardy foliage and pine (a mix of different shades of greens and textures works really well – here we’ve used eucalyptus and bay))
- Decorations (We like to keep ours quite natural and green so we’ve used poppy heads, pine cones and nigella flower seed heads. You can also add cinnamon sticks, orange/lime slices, sprayed foliage or bells.)
Step 1
Attach one end of the reel wire to your frame with a few twists.
Step 2
Secure bundles of bunched up moss to the frame by wrapping the reel wire around them. We use moss as it gives depth to the wreath – it will also provide moisture for the foliage you will be adding later.
Step 3
Continue adding bunches of moss until the whole frame is covered with an even distribution. Keep the reel wire attached to the wreath. Assemble small bundles of your mixed foliage and pine – it works best to keep larger bits of foliage and pine at the back of the bundle.
Step 4
Lay a bundle of foliage on the wreath and secure firmly using the reel wire. Add more bundles in the same direction, overlapping with the previous one.
Step 5
Continue adding bundles of leaves until the frame is evenly covered. Cut the reel wire, leaving enough to secure at the back by twisting it around itself.
Step 6
Attach a ribbon by doubling it around your wreath underneath the foliage, leaving it long enough to attach to your door. It is a good idea to hold up the wreath and look at the shape before you decide where to attach the ribbon.
Step 7
Cut long lengths of reel wire to make ‘legs’ for your decorations (to attach them to the wreath). To do this, bend the wire in half and attach with a few twists around a suitable point on your decoration (such as the stem or around the pine cone).
Step 8
Attach the decorations at random intervals around the wreath by separating out the ‘legs’ of the wire and securing them at the back of the wreath with a few twists. Use the ribbon to hang your wreath on a door or suitable place and enjoy!
By Zoe William
