The Lazy Girls Guide To Wreath Making

Monday 5 December 2016


Getting my wreath making groove on.


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I bought a wreath from Aldi. It was £7.99 and made with fresh spruce branches. It was basically too good to pass up as I knew I could do something with this.


Aldi Wreath (instore £7.99)


However, I didn't want the red plastic berries, the fir cones, the glitter gold bits and the bright red ribbon. I also didn't want the cinnamon sticks on them.  So I stripped them all off


Stripped


I just wanted to do something a little bit different. So based on what I had planned for my wreath, this is what you need :


1. Cutting pliers for cutting the florist wire.
2. Burlap wired ribbon
3. Faux (or real if you can get it) Eucalyptus Branch
4. Faux Green Viburnam  (or real if you can get it) Flower Spray
5. Florist Wire


After stripping off the extra decorations. I was basically left with a still excellent well fleshed out fir spruce wreath.

I cut the eucalyptus branch down into more manageable sizes so I could arrange them how I wanted. I chose to group the eucalyptus together on the right side (positioning about 4pm).


4pm positioning.


I cut the florist wire in to about 4 inch lengths. Each piece I bent in half so it resembled a hair pin. I used these to pin the eucalyptus to the wreath. Arrange and pin (press firmly to secure) till you are happy. 




I need to moisturise - I know.


I did the same with faux viburnam on the other side so they were diagonally opposite the eucalyptus. I stuck a bit of left over eucalyptus in with the virburnam to add a little foliage.


See the pin?

Not any more!


I then created a big bow with some burlap ribbon that I'd bought on a roll. 


I went for grey ribbon as I wanted quite muted tones on the wreath.


This is wired. If you are hanging a wreath outside, I would recommend a wired ribbon as this will hold it's shape better. A regular ribbon will droop somewhat when it gets wet but a wired one will still be fine. I chose to pin my bow just beneath the virburnam as I said, I didn't want it too too uniform.

Don't forget to tie a loop on the back of your wreath to hang it!


Simple



Have fun!

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Last Note :

  • For £7.99, the Aldi wreath is not to be sniffed at. It's quite a good size and a well made lovely looking wreath anyway. You know what they say - you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
  • This is a really really lazy way of "making" a wreath. You don't need to start totally from scratch with doing your oasis, soaking it, wrapping it, popping in your foliage etc etc
  • But it's a really really good simple way if you're a novice and you don't want to over face yourself and just do the fun bits.
  • I went for less is more. Or you could call it minimalist chic. Or you could say I'm plain lazy :)
  • Some very dark berries (almost black) would have looked good on this - if I had any :(
  • I could do with a few more sprigs of eucalyptus but I ran out and I just wanted to get this post done so you can crack on if you fancy a go at this.
  • My hubs will hate it - he didn't like the other one I made here. "Needs a bit of red on it" he said.


15 comments

  1. Absolutely love it Sue, it looks so stylish and luxurious! My attempts are not going so well, greenery all over the kitchen floor and a rather lopsided attempt at a wreath! Not giving up though, I think a visit to Aldi in the morning needed...as trying to do it from scratch for a novice is not a great idea? xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've tried both ways - the first time from scratch and luckily I had my friend to guide me. I included the link of how I did that one in the post. This time round, I kind of cheated but I think it's okay to cheat like this. The good thing is that the trimmings are not glued on but wired on so these can be removed easily without damaging the wreath. Try again tomorrow - and if all else fails - head to Aldi!

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  2. Understatedly stylish & cool: love it.
    I saw these in my local Aldi this morning (road works finished finally!) and though tempting, we have an artificial one 🙊 from last year... 😉

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    Replies
    1. I'm sure I have a wreath that a friend made me from some years back but for some reason, I can't find it. I used to bring it out each year and it "disappeared" one year otherwise I'd probably be using it still. But I've had a real wreath for the last few years, my friend made me one each year but the last couple of years I've had a go at making my own and I find it fun to see what I can come up with. And glad to see that your route to Aldi is no longer blocked - you can pick up all those goodies you don't need!

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  3. Looks lovely! Great timing too, I was going to have a crack at one today, but the boiler broke down at school, so I had company! I've got some good fake foliage from Ikea, and I'm planning on adding some rosemary from the garden too. I love the sprout wreaths, but life is truly too short to be threading half a kilo of the little buggers onto florists' wire :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've seen the foliage at Ikea - it's reasonably priced too especially the eucalyptus. Rosemary will be fabulous - I used to have a really big Rosemary patch but it just died off one year and the replacement plants have never been the same. I get twitchy when the hubs cuts anything off it as it's not really taken off yet and I'm worried it will be bald before it comes in to it's own. I've not seen the sprout wreaths - get a drill and drill through each one and get your kids on to it!

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  4. Your wreath looks fabulous Sue......I am definitely going to have a go at this! Another trip to Aldi it is then! ;-) xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Honestly, Aldi will be the death of me. I'm always picking stuff up in there. There's more beauty stuff in there this week too!

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  5. I love it! You did an amazing job...it's always easier said than done with decorating/diy. I've also ditched all the red this year in favor of natural colors & neutrals...happy with that choice so far!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. We have two trees. The main tree has red baubles on it so the hubs is happy. The other tree is for me to play with and experiment with. It changes a little from year to year. I have five boxes of decorations to choose from!!

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  6. Looks lovely. I have an old Wilko's one which was orginally twigs with red berries on. The berries peeled the first year, so I removed them, I have basically just added changed bits each year. Mine 's already up but I might steal some of your ideas!

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    1. I went to a wholesalers the other week and they still had a lot of plain wreaths in stock and they were really good. I would have been tempted to get one except that I'd already bought mine by then. It's not a bad idea to get a basic wreath and switch it up each year to have a change.

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  7. Looks great and much better than the original! I was going to make one this year but the weather has been too awful to go out and forage for foliage, might just have to buy one instead!

    Rachael xx.
    theteacozykitchen.blogspot.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. The original wasn't bad but the berries were just a little too bright for me as I like something more natural. I did think about going to get some berried ivy to add to the wreath but the thing that stopped me - the creepy crawlies that come out to play. I've found the odd spider before! I thought I can mange without this year. Next year, I'll just have to steady myself and go for it!

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  8. I'm so impressed with your handiness, no way in a million years could I achieve that look. Makes our huge Costco wreath look a bit naff!!

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Susie So So