If you haven’t noticed yet, the holiday season is upon us!  Pumpkin Spice everything is already in the air.  In three weeks it will be Halloween, a month after that Thanksgiving, and then a month after that Christmas.  The best part of the holiday season?  Decorations of course (or food, depending on the mood I’m in).  One of the easiest, cutest, and most visual to the outside world decorations?  Door wreaths.  Wreaths started as a Christmas thing, but now you can easily transform wreaths for any season or holiday.  They are also surprisingly easy to make.  Here are some DIY wreaths I have made…

(I apologize I do not have step by step pictures.  I created all wreaths years before I even had a blog.  I will try to describe the steps I took so hopefully it makes sense.)

1. Spooky Chic Halloween

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays ever.  Dressing up in fun costumes, staying up late hanging out with friends, eating candy until I puked, and best of all, spooky decorations.  My friends and I thought we were witches for years (don’t ask) and we were obsessed with the movie The Craft.  We tried to put spells on boys we liked and people we despised, but unfortunately they never worked.  This love for the dark side has stuck with me and comes out every October.  I love Halloween decorations that look like they could be real: skeletons, tombstones, spider webs, bottles of potions, and books of spells.  Since when did lime green and purple become Halloween colors?  Drives me crazy.  Anyway, I am getting off my soapbox now.  I didn’t like any Halloween wreaths found in stores.  All cheesy and obnoxious and green and purple.  This inspired me to create a Halloween wreath inspired by darkness and creepiness…with a hint of pizazz.  Something a true witch might love to have on their own door.

1. Gather supplies from your local craft store (I use Michael’s).  You will need a wreath frame, floral wire, (both found in the floral section) and whatever decorations you want to add.  I used glitter covered black leaves, black flowers, silver and red decorations, and a really cool looking turkey vulcher (all found seasonally).
2. Cut your decorations into single application inserts.  For me, my leaves and flowers came in a bundle, so I cut them into individual leaves/flowers.  The red and silver decorations also came in bundles, so with the silver I cut them off so each piece had a few tendrils, while the red I kept together so it would make a bigger impact.
3. Now it is time to attach your leaves/flowers/decorations.  To make the wreath look more uniform, make sure all the decorations are pointing in the same direction (i.e. clockwise).  To start, place one leaf over the wreath frame.

   

   Cut a small piece of floral wire and tie the base of the leaf to the wreath frame.  If it is not secure enough with the one tie, tie another one midway up the leaf.  Keep the tops of the leaf free so you can tuck other leaves under it.  Continue adding more leaves, tucking the base under already attached leaf tips.  Try your best to hide the wires under the foliage and twist/tie the wire on the back to hide.  Continue adding leaves until you can no longer see the wire wreath frame, or until you get the desired thickness.  Make sure to make the thickness even and continue to fill holes with little pieces.

4. Once you have the base leaves/flowers complete, add touches of decoration throughout in whatever pattern you desire.  Adding a focal point can really spice up the wreath.

2. Thanksgiving/Fall Wreath

1. Gather supplies from the craft store:  Twig wreath (I bought mine already made, but if you are crafty enough you could make your own), fabric fall leaves, burlap “ribbon” (I bought this in a spool similar to ribbon), cute fall decoration focal point (I got my scarecrow at Stater Brothers of all places, [it was on a stick to put in floral arrangements?  I cut the stick off].  You could use dried decoration corn, acorns, mini plastic pumpkins/squash, etc.), and a hot glue gun.
2. I wanted to see the twig wreath below the leaves, so I used the glue gun to place the leaves in just one layer.  To keep it uniform I faced them all clockwise.  You could add a second (or third) layer if you wanted to see more leaves and less twig wreath.
3. Next make a bow out of the burlap ribbon.  The easiest way, lay the burlap out to the desired width of your ribbon, then fold the burlap over to the starting edge, wrap it around the edge and continue wrapping the burlap around itself.  Each time you wrap makes another layer of your bow.  Once you have enough layers cut off the excess burlap.  Then gather the center of the burlap, creating a bow shape.  Wrap the center with either extra burlap, or you could use wire.  As long as you cover the center with a decoration it doesn’t matter how it looks or what is gathering your bow.  Hot glue (or use wire) to attach the bow to the wreath.  I added mine to the bottom, but you could add it to the top too.
4. Glue your cute decoration in the center of the bow.

3.  Country Chic Barbed Wire Christmas Wreath

This was the first wreath I ever made.  As a disclaimer, I did not design this wreath myself.  I was actually taught how to make it in one of my college teaching classes (they were teaching us wreath making).  The idea was so cute I kept it around for years as my only door wreath (even in college apartments!).

1. Gather Materials:  Barbed wire wrapped in wreath shape (I have also seen fake barbed wire sold, you could also use regular wire), decorations (I used plastic evergreen leaves, small plastic poinsettia, ribbon, bell, red beaded decoration, and pine cone).
2. Glue your accessories on the barbed wire wreath in whatever pattern you wish.  I wanted to see the barbed wire, so I tried to make mine bare in some sections.  Others who made the wreath covered theirs completely in plastic evergreen leaves.

4.  Fabric Ball Christmas Wreath

Big disclaimer, I did not design or make this wreath.  I bought it last year at Target.  I wasn’t even looking for a wreath, but when I saw it I fell in love.  I went weeks thinking about it, every time I went to Target I would walk past it and stare.  Finally weeks past and our Target only had one left and it was on sale so I jumped on it!!  I really didn’t want a traditional plastic evergreen wreath, so I was really stoked to get something unique and different.  Even though it is not DIY, it looks like it could be.  As my husband said, “The best DIYers know when to DIY and when it is easier to buy.”

Again, I bought this, but if I DID made this, this is how I would do it:

1. Gather materials:  cardboard/wooden wreath, styrofoam balls in different sizes, winter looking fabrics (you could knit your own, buy fabric, or use old socks/sweaters)
2. Cover the wooden wreath with fabric, or you could make your own by taking cardboard and cutting it in a wreath shape.  This will be the base for the wreath.
3. Cover the styrofoam balls in the winter fabric whichever way works best for you.
4. Glue the fabric covered styrofoam balls onto the wreath.  Balance out between the large and small balls.
5. Since the fabric balls are too large to fit this wreath on most wreath hooks, glue a thin strap of fabric in a loop at the top to hook around the wreath hook.

5.  Easter Wreath

I did not make this wreath either.  It was also bought at Target.  I was actually stopping quickly at Target before I headed to Michaels (they are next door) to get supplies to make my own Easter wreath.  When I saw this wreath it looked exactly like what I wanted to make!  I figured it would be infinitely easier to buy the wreath than it would be to make something, and the Target wreath probably would look better anyway.  But, if I did make it, this is what I would have done:

1. Gather supplies:  Twig wreath, plastic Easter eggs, twine/twigs, moss, and hot glue gun.
2. Glue the plastic eggs to the twig wreath so you cover the entire wreath.
3. Fill in all holes with the moss, making sure to glue it down.
4. Wrap with twine or twigs around the wreath, gluing it down in hidden spots.
5. If the wreath is too thick to fit on a hook, tie a piece of twine from the top to hang on the wreath hook.

Enjoy your wreath making!!