DIY Fresh Christmas Wreath

In this simple tutorial I show you how to DIY fresh Christmas wreath using scavenged materials from your yard, farm or nearby fields and forests.

My daughters and I love making fresh Christmas wreaths.  It seems it really isn’t Christmas time until you have a beautiful wreath hanging on the door.  A warm welcome to friends and family

For several years we sold Christmas trees and fresh garland and wreaths at our farm.  During those years I would spend evening after evening out in our garage, cd player blaring Christmas carols, making and decorating wreath after wreath.  It was a lot of work, but I loved creating them, making each new and unique for just the right customer.

During those years I found many new and unique ways to make fresh Christmas wreaths and have streamlined the process into very few steps. Usually we build our wreaths on a clamp ring with our wreath making machine, but this year we decided to build them with scavenged vines from the farm.

Creating a scavenged wreath

Since we haven’t picked up a fresh Christmas tree yet, we don’t have fresh fir greens so my daughter, Kalley, and I just made-do with greens from the shrubs in our yard.  I like doing that.  I’m sure that is the way great grandma would have done it, too.

We like the  natural, rustic materials to shine so we don’t usually add any ribbon to our wreaths.  And I didn’t want to spend any money.  But you certainly could add a ribbon if you want a bit more spark.

The shiny leaves and cute little pink & red berries of the Manhattan euonymus and the rough texture of the Norway Spruce pine cones we collected seemed like plenty. 

So, go hunt your yard, neighborhood, surrounding countryside or forest and gather some of God’s natural beauties and let’s get started! Your diy fresh Christmas wreath creation awaits!

Materials needed for a DIY fresh Christmas wreath

• Garden clippers
• Green spool floral wire (stick wire could work also, but spools work best)
  
• Wire cutters
• 8-12 vines approx 8 ft long – grapevines, berry canes, and fine tree branches like birch all work well.
  
• Large variety of greens cut 12 to 24″ in length- I used a variety from shrubs in my yard…mugo pine, English boxwood, Manhattan euonymus, Norway spruce and junipers in blue & green.  Clippings from your Christmas tree also work.
• 5 larger pine cones – I used the Norway spruce cones in my diy fresh Christmas wreath because I like the silvery cast they had.  I always add accents like pine cones in odd numbers to keep it interesting.
  

Steps to building the wreath base

ONE – DECIDE ON A LOCATION AND THE SIZE/SHAPE

Decide where you are going to hang your wreath and what size you will need your base to be.  Our diy fresh Christmas wreath hangs on a 36″ door and we made the wreath base about 13 to 14″ in diameter.  This left enough extra room for the greens to spray off and not get caught in the door.  Mostly.  One wreath was made in a bit of an oval shape….by accident…but we liked it that way.

TWO – FREE FORM YOUR VINES INTO A WREATH

Use the longest, thickest piece of vine you have to start.  Shape it into a loose circle or oval in the size you need and hold together in one hand.  Then reach through the wreath with your opposite hand and get a hold of the tip of the vine and gently pull it through.  Shape and tighten it up to the first round without bending and cracking it.  Continue to reach through and pull the tip through and tighten until the vine has been completely used up.

THREE – CONTINUE SHAPING AND TUCKING

Grab another vine and tuck the butt end into the wreath starting in a new location around the wreath than the last piece.  Holding your hand over the new butt, begin reaching through and pulling the tip of the vine through as before.  Continue tucking and shaping until the whole vine is used. Continue in this manner until your wreath is the shape and size you want.

Attaching greenery to your DIY fresh Christmas wreath

ONE – Form ‘bouquets’ of greens in your hand

Start be deciding which direction you want your greens to flow around the wreath.  Pick out greens that bend in a natural arch in that direction.  Place them into your hand like you are building a bouquet. 

Start with the longer, drapier ones first and build up to the shorter, more detailed ones last. Any berries, seed pods, etc. should go on last so they are to the front.  Shape and clip as you go so your bouquet is pleasing.  I hold mine up to the wreath as I go and adjust until it looks like the right fullness.

TWO – Attach the ‘bouquet’ to the wreath base

Once you have the ‘bouquet’ in the size and shape lay it against the wreath and hold in place while you wrap wire around the entire wreath to hold it in place. 

Depending on how long the pieces are you may need to wrap around the greens further towards the tips.  I just slip the wire under the top layers of the ‘bouquet’ and attach the longer, lower branches.

Now just proceed by building and attaching more ‘bouquets’ until it looks right.  Be sure to layer them over each other, covering stems as you go.

If you decide to have your greens running in both directions as I did you will need to build small ‘bouquets’ to fill in where they meet.  I made two large ‘bouquets’, one going to each side, and one small ‘bouquet’ for the center of my wreath.

THREE – Attach the pine cones

Cut a length of wire about 18″ long and wrap the middle through the pine cone petals.  Twist the ends together and then split them apart to wrap around the wreath and tie the pine cone in place.

I like to lay all my pine cones in place before wiring them.  Be sure to put your largest cones towards the center of the greenery and the smaller ones further out where the greens are draping.

Be sure to nestle them in well so it looks like they are actually attached and not laying on the top.  And of course when tying them on with the wire be sure that the wire is under the upper layers of greenery.  This allowing them to drape freely over and around the pine cone.

Now, stand back and admire your beautiful DIY Rustic Vine Christmas Wreath.    

Festive ways to use your DIY fresh Christmas wreath

Wasn’t that fun!?  Right about now, I bet you are thinking that it was so fun you want to make another one.  Haha!  Wreath making can be addictive.  There is no end to the possibilities.  So here is a little list of ways to use more wreaths around the farmhouse this year.

• Make a smaller version to hang on a door knob
• Make miniature wreaths to use as napkin rings at the table
• One of my favorites I’ve done over the years is to make a wreath to lay around the base of the punch bowl for parties
  
• Hang it on a old rustic ladder near the front walk way or mailbox
• Attach it to the front gate or fence around your yard
• Hang it on the barn or outbuilding where you can see if from the driveway or house windows
  

Tips to make your DIY fresh Christmas wreath last longer

1. Before attaching greens give them a good overnight soak in cool water. I use a wheelbarrow or livestock tub for this. This also kills any bugs hiding in the greens.
   
   • Even better, add Christmas tree preservative to the water before soaking.
2.  Take your wreath down a couple times during the season and spray or soak with water if the weather is dry. 
   
3. If you want to use your fresh wreath inside…
   • keep away from heaters and the fire place mantel as this will dry the greens out quickly
   • take outside and either wet greens once a week, either dipping or spraying them well to re-hydrate
   • consider making more than one and holding one to replace the first when it is dry
   • make table setting wreaths just a few days ahead and store in a cool shop or garage until the day of the event
     

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Grapevine wreath (in case you can’t find vines)

Green floral wire

Wire Cutters

Garden Clippers.  I garden excessively (over 100 roses alone in my one acre yard) and these are my favorites. 

Manhattan Euonymus.  These beautiful shrubs stay glossy green all winter even in our zone 5 climate, make a beautiful 8′ tall hedge and have pretty berries on them in late fall/winter.