Thursday, December 10, 2009

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!

8 comments:

Vintage Dutch Girl said...

PERFECT. I have a huge pile of unused branches in my garage waiting for inspiration.

Inspiration found!

Anonymous said...

Love your wreaths! Great job.

Kim said...

Those look great! I love how big the one is on your front door. And, I am loving that yellow. What color is that?

chris said...

There's nothing like the smell of evergreens to bring Christmas into your home. Well done.

merathon said...

in boston, we used to have a church activity each year where we all made this kind of wreath. it was the best activity!

Anonymous said...

Nice work! I just saw a wreath made of old magazines on another blog. I'd really like to try it :)

Steph said...

One of the perks of buying a live tree. Score!

I love the wreath on your mirror-- I do that too!

Shanda McKeehan said...

I'm so glad you shared this! I've been trying to do this for years but can never get it just right. I love the easy idea of starting with a hanger!

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