Woodland Wreath DIY

For the modern farmhouse this style is a fresh take on rustic woodland inspired wreath. I love the personal touch of making your own holiday wreath to welcome guests into your home. I see a lot of wreaths that are just the usual circle with ornaments and a bow. Let's add some holiday flair! I want to share with you a way to create a long lasting design that combines the classic wreath with carriage swag to give you a whole new style.

Supplies

- 1 Stem of red berries approximately 24" in length

- 1-2 stems of frosted pine and frosted berries sprays (frosted to contrast with the red berries)

- Assorted pine cones

- Oasis binding wire

- Green paddle wire.

- Wire snips

- Decorative moss

- Vines such as Virginia Creeper, Honeysuckle or grapevine, approximately five 48 inch-long pieces

- Maybe a contrasting pine (just see how you feel about it)

- Some personal touches such as birds, nests, twigs, mushrooms ornaments.

The Wreath Base

Start with a nice, healthy looking wreath with one or two types of pines from your favorite florist or garden store. To check freshness you can gently bend fresh stems and they won't snap or crackle. Check for brown spots and that the pines feel secure on the frame. When you get it home soak the wreath for approximately four hours or overnight if possible to give it a good drink and rehydrate it. Pat it dry and give it a good misting with a antitranspirant spray such as Crowning Glory. Preparing the wreath with spray and lots of water will minimize how often you need to replace it. (Oh yes, you'll be able to replace the wreath with just a few snip.....read on.)

Garland

Start by cutting up several pieces of binding wire to have ready as you make the garland.

*Pro tip: wrap the binding wire around your fingers several times and cut both ends to create several pieces in 2 cuts.

Lay 3 piece of your vine at 12 and 6 o'clock on your wreath with a width about 3 inches without cutting any length off. This will be the beginning of the garland. Where they naturally want to come together fasten with binding wire. As you bind the connecting points you'll see it starting to take on it's shape and feel it become more rigid. Let it wander as it wants to, but don't allow it to get wider. To get the desired length you'll just add more vines to the bottom. For my standard door I created a garland 55 inches long.

Marking your 12 and 6 o'clock position and moving back the pines to find the base of the wreath. Fasten a 12" piece of binding wire to the frame. Now use those pieces of binding wire to secure your garland to the wreath. We'll only add the decorations to the garland. That way if the wreath starts too look sad we can snip those binding points and put our gorgeous garland on a new fresh wreath.

Now let's prepare the decorations to be fastened to the garland. I cut out about half of the red berries stem from the main branch so I could use them at the bottom. I cut all the sections away from the frosted pine and frosted berry spray to apply to the garland. Pine cones are prepped by laying a piece of binding wire between scales and wrapping around then twisting. *Pro tip: don't leave rough cut ends exposed. Wrap a clump of moss around the end and fasten with the wire that you'll use to hold it on to the garland. Cut pieces so greenery or berries hide your handy work.

Once everything has been prepped the fun part begins. I start with large stems of red berries at the top and add the smaller pieces all the way to the bottom to draw the eye through the entire design. The small frosted pines are added next and fill in the gaps between the berries. Pine cones go in last since they are the main feature. To personalize it I add a bird nest and some of my favorite glass bird ornaments.

Be sure to check back and check out my Holiday Home tour.