DIY Christmas Wreath & Garland

December 10, 2018

It’s that time of year again. The time to get extra with your Christmas DIY’s and get crafty in your home. Over the past few weeks, I have been admiring different DIY’s on Instagram. There are some beautiful ones, all very different and creative. Fresh wreaths and garlands are featuring heavily this year. They are a thing of beauty, but they can be expensive. A decent sized handmade wreath can set you back about €50. A fresh garland could double that budget. So I decided to get my hands dirty and make my own.

This is a clever, inexpensive way to create your own wreath for your door, that will surely wow your friends (followers) and neighbours! It took me about an hour and the trickiest part was unravelling the florists twine, which I bought last year and forgot to store correctly. It ended up in a big, knotty mess in my work box. I also made a garland for my stairs, which I am totally chuffed with. I’ve split the DIY’s into two parts, so you can attempt one, or both of them.

What you will need for the DIY Wreath

An inexpensive, basic wreath base – I got mine from a local hardware shop for €6.50
Florists wire
Scissors
Foliage:
I used pine, ivy, eucalyptus (€2 a stem from my local florist and I bought 5 large stems)Lavender sprigs – you could use other herbs here, such as rosemary
Basically you can forage for any greenery, just make sure you have permission to take whatever you find.
Check your garden, or a friends garden. You can use pretty much anything.

This is the wreath I picked up for €6.50 in my local hardware shop. It had a few festive touches, which I removed. You could keep these and use them elsewhere.

This is what the wreath looked like with all the festive bits removed. Starting to look better already. There was nothing wrong with the actual wreath I bought, it just wasn’t my style and I really wanted something a bit more, well, pimped up I guess!!

Next we have our fresh foliage. Go as wild as you like here. I worked with what I could get my hands on over the weekend. Pine, Fern, Ivy and eucalyptus (which I bought from my local florist). I usually buy bunches of this and keep them in a vase in the kitchen – they smell amazing. Try it out over Christmas, you won’t be disappointed.

Next cut off sprigs of each of your chosen greenery. Layer them on top of each other. I put the pine at the back, then half a fern leaf, then a spring of eucalyptus and finished off with two sprigs of lavender on the top. Use a small piece of florists wire to wrap around the base, almost making a mini bouquet of foliage.

Once you have created your mini bouquets, repeat this process. I used 8 for my wreath, it just depends on the size you have yourself and how full you want it to be.

Next lay each bunch of foliage on your wreath and get it into position. Bind the extra wire around the back of the wreath and twist it into place, securing the bouquet onto the wreath.

Repeat this process until you have a full circle of foliage on your wreath. The last one is tricky to attach, so try to lift up the first bouquet you secured and attached the last one under it. A tip here is to make your last one slightly smaller, so it fits neatly in behind the first little bunch.

Using a piece of the florists wire, attach it to the back of the wreath. Bend it into a loop so you can hang your beautiful new wreath on your front door. This is what the finished product looks like….

It looks stunning and smells very fresh and festive. I would usually give this a spray with some water once a week to keep it looking nice and green for Christmas Day.

And that folks, is how I created a fresh foliage wreath for my front door for under €10.

For the garland

I used the same method of making the mini bouquets and attaching them to some long pine tree branches. Remember to measure the length of your stairs so you know how long you need to make it.

Use smaller pieces to fill in any gaps you might have. I used about 9 different branches to get the length I needed which was 1.5 metres.

It is important to remember to carefully select your end pieces, so you have a nice tidy branch at each end. Once you have joined all the branches together, make up mini bouquets of foliage again, the same way I did with the wreath. Remember to leave extra wire so you can pin them into your garland.

I attached these little bunches at intervals along the garland. Just to bulk it up. I found it was easier to attach the garland to my banister rail first and get it in position. Then I attached about 6 little bunches until I was happy with the look. I used 2 Ikea stars as my lighting. These were attached the the handrail first and the garland attached second.

Now just sit back and switch on your lights and enjoy all your hard work. Have a glass of wine, you’ve earned it. To be honest, this wasn’t hard work for me. I got so engrossed in the process, it was really relaxing and it helped my mind switch off. I finished off the end piece with a dried hydrangea. You could add in fresh flowers or more dried ones to suit your hallway decor. Go wild!

I hope you try these Christmas DIY’s – they are inexpensive ways to get some festive cheer into your home.

Thanks for reading.