Make your own Holiday Wreath

I love making my front door wreath for the holidays. It's something I've been doing for many years and it's so rewarding. If you collect your greenery from fallen branches then you'll be making something that is recycled and sustainable too. Through trial and error making dozens of wreaths, I've developed my own method and a few of you who follow on social media have asked for a tutorial, so here we go.

      SUPPLIES:

1. Fresh greens can include a variety or just one type of evergreen. I used cedar, white pine, fir and juniper (eastern red cedar) for my wreath
2. Foraged or purchased grapevine wreath for the base
3. Green floral tape/stem wrap
4. Roll of green florist wire (light gauge)
5. Pruning scissors/shears
6. Wire cutters (optional)
7. Ribbon (3 yards)
8. Rose hips, juniper berries, small dogwood branches or any other natural element to adorn your wreath

      INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Tear a piece of Green Floral Tape to about 12 inches
2. Snip 4-6 sprigs from cedar, pine and juniper branches
3. Trim to expose about 5" of stem at the base of each sprig
4. You'll notice that each sprig has a natural curve - let the curve be a guide as you pile each sprig on top of each other.
5. Tightly wrap the stems with the floral tape to form a bunch
6. Make at least 12 bunches
7. Tie an 18" piece of green wire to each evergreen bunch

Tie the first bunch of evergreen sprigs to the wreath by wrapping the wire around the grapevine a few times to secure it. Overlap the next bunch making sure that your bunches are always going in the same direction and following the curve of the grapevine wreath.

Continue working around the grapevine while making sure that your greens are always going in the same direction. Cover the wrapped stems with the foliage from the next bunch and you can add a few sprigs individually if necessary. Make the wreath as lush and full as you like.

We have lots of Dogwood at our farm and we need to keep it away from our lane way so hubby is quite happy when I give it a trim and take some away for my annual wreath. I also clipped some of the Rosehips from our garden. I'm trying to be sustainable with my decorating and these are things that are available for me. You may have different elements that are local to you, so experiment and have fun with what you can find in your environment. If I was going to be totally eco-friendly this wreath wouldn't have a bow, but I do like ribbon on my wreath. I didn't buy anything new though, this blue velvet and copper ribbon has been rolled up in my basement for years - finally it has a purpose!

Well, our front door wreath is done. Next up is baking and wrapping! I hope you're finding some time at this busy time of year to do some "making" too!