Holiday Wreath DIY

It’s officially December and that means we can all get really excited about the holidays. Yes! Wreaths make for such beautiful home décor this time of year… hung delicately on your front door, over your bed, on a big window in your kitchen. I was really fortunate to receive a personal holiday wreath how-to from the incredible Meredith — Special Projects Manager at Terrain in Glen Mills. I love that she chose colorful materials to steer this away from your typical holiday wreath – and the fact that she used no other tools aside from a pair of pruners just blew my mind! Here’s how it’s done.

Materials: Silver dollar eucalyptus, red twig dogwood, flame willow, pruners.

*Before you begin: Flame willow and red twig dogwood are naturally flexible… if they haven’t been stored in water, allow them to soak for at least 24 hours to regain their flexibility — the longer the better.

1. First, pick up a willow branch and trim off any extraneous little branches that you may not want as part of your wreath.

2. Then, start to shape the branch into a circle, using your leg to help form an arch.

3. Form the rough size and shape of your wreath, twisting the branch around itself as you go. This is what will hold it in place.

4. Take your next branch and continue twisting it around in the same direction. Make sure your branch ends are at different spots — this allows for a better overall look. You can mix up the direction that you twist different branches if you like. This is the nontraditional way and will create a bubble effect.

5. Keep this going for as long as you like. Then, switch over and use the dogwood. The colors of these two plants together beautifully — they create an ombre-like effect.

6. Once you’ve achieved your desired thickness, use your pruners to snip any ends that may be sticking out. Do so on an angle for a clean look.

7. Finally, add your eucalyptus! Do this using the same technique. Again, if you’d like, twist the eucalyptus around the base of the wreath in a separate direction for a different, vine-like effect.

And you’ve done it! Look how beautiful. :)

I love the way this wreath looks on an outside wooden door. 

When she was finished, Meredith used the leftover scraps to make me a mini wreath — how’s that for reducing waste!

A huge thank you to Meredith and Terrain!! Happy holidays, everyone. :)

More DIY ideas from the BLDG 25 Blog.

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