how to: evergreen wreath

Last week when we picked out our Christmas tree, I noticed a big pile of branches that had been trimmed from the trees. When I asked what they did with the branches I was told "give them to people that buy a tree". Sweet! I had never made a wreath before but I figured it couldn't be that hard. Turns out that Michael made wreaths as a service project when he was a youth living in Vermont. Who knew? The man has all sorts of hidden talents!

How to turn this:

Into this:

Gather your supplies- wire hanger, gloves, pliers, clippers and fine gauge wire (I use 26 gauge).

Straighten out your hanger wire. Form into your desired size. For the small wreath the hook part of the hanger was removed and the wire overlapped it self to make it 8" in diameter. For our large wreath we used the full length of the hanger.

Using your clippers, cut off lengths of the branch- about 18" and smaller for the large wreath and 12" and smaller for the small wreath. Make a bunch with 2-5 branches (depending on how full your branches are). Wrap the wire around the bottom few inches of the bunch and the hanger wire.

Make a knot (like a twist tie) when you start.

One bunch secured. Layer the next bunch over the first and wrap. Keep going around the hanger wire until you have reached the beginning.

Finished small wreath:

Finished large wreath:

Michael and I made the large wreath together. It is a lot easier with four hands! I was able to easily make the small one on my own though. Total cost for two fresh evergreen wreathes: $0!