Homemade Wreaths
by Michelle Jones
If you'd like to learn how to make
your own floral wreaths at home then this is the
article for you! I made this pretty spring wreath in
about 20 minutes, and although it may not be perfect,
it's still quite beautiful on our front door! And...
I saved over $30 by making it myself!
* * *
I've used the same
spring/summer wreath (with little pink and white
flowers) on our front door for more years than I can
count. It was really time for a change! I
guess I've just been so busy over the last 10 years
that I hadn't even thought about it until this week.
So, while I was out
running errands I stopped by my favorite craft supply
store to see if they had any pretty wreaths I could
pick up. I was hoping they'd have something special
for Easter.
But after about 5
minutes of browsing through the store (scanning every
decorated floral wreath available for purchase), I
quickly realized that I was on my own. The average
price tag was $39.00, which was much more than I
wanted to pay!
Fortunately, I have had
some experience with flower decorating and knew
basically what to do next. I said to myself "it's
okay, you can do this!" And as you can see from the
picture above, I purchased some silk flowers and went
home and made this beautiful wreath. My total cost
was under $10.00!
And ever since I put it
up on our front door I've been wanting to share it
with all of you - so you can save money and have a
pretty wreath on your door too. Wreaths are pretty
and fun, and an inexpensive way to decorate for the
seasons and holidays, especially when you make them at
home.
Here's the items
you'll need...
Scissors or wire
cutters
Brown or green
floral tape to match the stems (if you want to get
real fancy)
Hot glue
Recycled twist tie
for hanging wreath on the door (like you get from a
bag of bread)
Wreath Base
Silk Flowers
-
Start by choosing
either the main color you want (like blue, pink,
white, etc...) or a particular flower (like roses,
tulips, etc...), and then add some other flowers
that will compliment them well. Selecting varied
shapes and sizes works well too.
-
The amount of flowers
you need to buy will depend on the size of your
wreath base, and whether you want to cover it
completely or just give it some color (which is also
the cheaper way to go).
-
Look for silk flowers
that are already grouped together with one base
stem, they only cost a few dollars and you can get a
lot of flowers that are already coordinated! (For
the wreath above, I found a set that I really liked
so I bought two of them.)
-
Make sure to look the
flowers over good when picking them out - for any
missing pieces that may have fallen off at the
store. If you get home and still find an empty
stem, you can either tuck it behind another flower
or cut it off.
-
Group the flowers
together in your hands at the store, if they look
good together chances are pretty good they'll look
good on your wreath too.
Bows and Extra
Decorations, if Desired
-
Ribbon bows add a
nice touch to floral wreaths, but that's not all you
can add...
-
Craft stores have
tons of little things that might look pretty on a
wreath, be creative and use whatever you want! I
looked for a small cross (for Easter) but couldn't
find anything that would fit on the wreath well.
They also had plenty of Easter decorations like
flocked bunnies and baby chicks, and plastic eggs.
(Since my flowers ended up looking more spring like
than for Easter, I decided to go with a pretty
butterfly instead.)
Directions...
Lay the wreath base on
a table as you would like it to hang on your door
(prettiest side on top or whatever), then add the
twist tie to the back of the top so you can hang it on
the door when you're finished. (Or, if you want to
wait and see how the wreath turns out first, save this
step for last - like I did.)
Next, prepare your
flowers. Remove store tags, cut flowers to a shorter
length (about 4 - 6 inches), with wire cutters or an
old pair of scissors, and then wrap stems with a small
amount of floral tape if desired.
You can even cut off
the leaves and do the same thing with them, or use
florist stems (the ones with a wire attached) to
create a single flower or leaf out of everything that
was attached to each stem.
After you've got your
flowers prepared, group them together by color or
type. Start with one group of flowers and stick them
in the wreath one at a time, in whatever pattern you
want. Then, work on another group and another until
they are all in the wreath. (If you have some flowers
leftover you can also put them in a vase and use them
somewhere else in the house.)
If you'd like to add a
ribbon bow or some kind of decoration, you can either
place it in the wreath as you did with the flowers
(attaching a leftover floral stem with some tape if
needed), or just use a little hot glue.
Now, take a step back
and see how it looks. If you don't like the way you
placed some of the flowers you can carefully pull them
out and move them around until you're happy with it.
Wreaths also make great
gifts all throughout the year... especially for
holidays. I hope this has given you the encouragement
to give it a try, I know you can do it!
Just be creative and
send us a picture!
Michelle Jones, author
of Frugal Family Recipes and Dealing with Debt, is dedicated to helping
families save money and live a better life. She's also a frugal mom of 4
and the Publishing Editor of Living a Better Life: The Free Money-Saving
Tips Ezine. Please visit
www.BetterBudgeting.com to sign up for your free subscription!Copyright © by Michelle Jones. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
