Hi friends! My name is Julia Parr and I am a junior Business major here at Samford! Due to my internship, I am staying here in Birmingham for most of the break during the 2 months of December-January. Now that finals are over and I have loads of spare time, I have started creating a variety of garlands and wreaths to “deck the halls” in the spirit of Christmas! This is so fun to do with friends and family during the holiday season that combines creativity, quality time, and is super useful around this time of year!
Making wreaths is a simple process that is a bit time consuming, messy, and all the more fun. All the materials that someone needs to create his or her own includes:
Flexible branches
Long and short evergreen branches
Florist wire
Wire cutters
A little bit of Pinterest inspiration
I added in little bunches of juniper berries, twine, pinecone, and some ribbon to give this wreath some character. The evergreen branches I used were cedar, fraser fir, and juniper in order to have a variety of green shades. You can get these by taking clippings from trees in and around your house or get bundles of fresh greenery from a florist/grocery store! We sourced lots of greenery from Trader Joe’s, but in the past I have made garlands and wreaths using the trimmings from pruning trees in my parents’ yard.
There are no specific steps that one must follow to a T, but here are some guidelines for my fellow festive crafters out there!
Make a sturdy “skeleton” by either using pre-made wire that you can get at craft stores, or make one out of the tips of tree branches like I did.
If you decide to make your own, make sure the branches are flexible enough for you to hold a bend while you secure each of the pieces together. I started by making a long strand of connected pieces before bending and attaching the two ends of my “rope” into a circle, which served as the framework for my wreath.
Fashion all pieces together using an overlapping method where the end of one branch overlaps the other, and tightly wrap florist wire about 8 times each. Let the branches “flow” in the direction you believe your wreath should go. This can be opposite directions for a fuller, thicker look or one direction to have a more minimalistic and natural look that I planned on having.
Add all extra pieces at the end, and don't be afraid to get creative with what you attach to your wreath. Some great examples I’ve seen are dried oranges, an attached popcorn garland, ribbons, eukalyptus, pinecones, etc.
Be patient with the results, and don’t be afraid to start over. It's just a little wreath and these beautiful pictures (thank you for making me look cool Holly) don't show the crazy amount of vacuuming and sweeping I’ve done. It was 200% worth it and now my entire house smells like a beautiful forest- minus the bugs ;-)
Thanks so much for following along with this fun and unique DIY! If you try this out, make sure to tag @samfordchiomega on instagram so we can see your beautiful creations! Happy wreath making!
