How to Make a DIY Christmas Wreath - Time to Get Creative

Almost every year, I find myself making some DIY Christmas decoration. This year it was wreaths.

Okay, so if you have been following my blog for a while, you’ll know that several years ago, I made a Christmas wreath back then too. However, my skills have definitely developed, going next level with my design skills and wreath making.

Now, this wreath was given to my BFF as a Christmas present, which is why she is featured in the cover photo of this blog. So, of course, I had to take my design skills to the next level to produce something I was not only proud of, but something she would be happy with, to hang every year.

Normally what I would do with these posts, is have a photo guide of instructions on how to DIY something. However, this year I have to talk you through how I made it, as it was a little awkward to photograph this wreath, and the manner in which I made it meant it was not easy to film myself. Oh and let’s not talk about the mess I made LOL. It was shocking really.

So, this time around, I will chat to you about how I made it and what process I went through to get to the finished product.

If you’re looking to make a wreath, I found the best way to start was to go to cheap shops and source decorations you can use which don’t cost too much. Otherwise you might find yourself spending WAY too much money on making one, when you could probably find one online for half the price.

Once you have sources a plain wreath (I used a twig wreath for this design), and all the bits and bobs you want to add on it, I opted to use cable ties to attach the bulk of the foliage around the wreath and the lights too, as it’s way more secure than attempting to attach everything with glue.

This also prevents a build up of glue, which can happen, and then your items just won’t sit right in the wreath. For the little things, like the roses I have on this wreath, I did use glue to keep them where I wanted. Along with the squirrel also, and extra ribbon to tie the squirrel down, just in case.

Start with the bushiest of your foliage and start with applying this to your wreath first. you want to go from the bushiest to the least, otherwise, you will struggle to see the smaller items on the wreath, if you start covering the wreath with bushy leaves.

For this wreath specifically, I started with lights first. I wrapped them around the entire wreath and then attached at the bottom with cable ties.

This then followed with the bushy green ivy – which I scored one on one long line, so I was able to wrap it around the wreath and then attach at the bottom with a cable tie.

Then I worked with the foliage I had by placing it around the wreath (not attaching it yet – just laying it on there), seeing where I wanted all the items to go. Once I had worked out where I wanted them to go, I did need to use pliers to cut the foliage, as they were all wire based in the stems, to the desired length, leaving enough for me to able to thread through the great to the other side, where I was then able to attach with cable ties at the back.

Depending on whether you can colour match the cable ties so you can’t see them at the back. you may also want to have some extra foliage at the end of your DIY project, as you may want to hide the big old mess at the back of the wreath which shows you how you attached everything, and normally doesn’t look as attractive as the front side of the wreath.

Continue to place and attach all your foliage, leaving all the small things to last. this means any ribbons, flowers or berries you wish to attach need to go on last.

As mentioned, you can cable tie all your foliage onto the wreath, to make sure it stays on strong. And for all the other little things, you can use glue. I find hot glue is best, as dries fast with barely any wait time on setting in your items on the wreath (or any DIY project for that matter).

When you’re ready to apply all the small items, for example for this wreath, I had a few sparkling items and roses. These were all applied using hot glue. Which was super easy, as there was a nice clean slate for the glue to attach to, as I had used cable ties to attach everything else.

Once everything was attached, I was then able to attach the squirrel, and the ribbon. I did the ribbons first. One for the bottom the wreath (the nice bow) and then a smaller ribbon at the top for hanging. The reason you want to do this, is because, you’ll want to hang your wreath somewhere, not just to see how it looks, but also so you can finish off the glueing, sort any changes you wish to make and of course for me, to attach the squirrel.

When I say you may want to make changes. Often when you make something laying flat on a table surface, it can look different, to how it seems when it hangs up. So, I always recommend you hang it up to view when done, so to see if you need to re-arrange anything, take anything out, or add anything in.

Once I had attached my squirrel, I was a little concerned the glue just wasn’t enough. Mostly as I used a stick type of wreath (not a foliage based one), the surface was not smooth or flat at all. So, once I had tied by big bow and was happy with it, I then glued the squirrel and used a very thin ribbon to tie the squirrel for extra security to the wreath. This was wrapped between the body of the squirrel and the tail to the wreath, where you can’t see it and then knotted at the back and hidden under the fury tail of the squirrel.

And that’s it. Once juicy looking, next level and incredible unique wreath.

This is probably the best wreath I have ever made, and I am super proud of it. It’s even got me thinking, I may make speciality wreaths for different seasons, to sell on Etsy. We’ll see what 2021 brings anyways.