Wednesday 30 July 2014

My spring-summer wreath


I started hanging a Christmas wreath on the front door a few years ago.  At that time, there weren't many other houses sporting wreaths in our neighbourhood but slowly they started to catch on.  When we took the Christmas decorations down on Twelth Night, I had to say goodbye to my lovely wreath for another year.  The front door looked so drab and colourless after it was gone, leaving me feeling quite sad.

So I decided to make a Spring wreath to cheer up the door and it's been so lovely having it there that I've left it up, turning it into a Spring-Summer sort of affair.


Making your own flower wreath is really easy.  As you can see from the close-up, I've used artificial flowers which make it weatherproof and long-lasting.  I think I'll be trotting this wreath out for quite a few years, maybe swapping the bow for a different colour every so often--I desperately wanted a burlap bow, but finding wired burlap ribbon in the UK is like finding hens teeth!!

I followed this tutorial from Confessions of a Serial Do-It-Yourselfer and honestly, the hardest part of making the wreath was finding all the flowers at a decent price.  I trawled round pound shops, discount shops and ended up in Hobbycraft gritting my teeth as I stood in the check-out queue.  Artificial flowers are not cheap in the UK, whereas they seem to be available at incredibly low prices in Hobby Lobby, Michaels or The Dollar Store in the good ol' US of A!  In hindsight, I should probably have ordered some from eBay, but I had the bit firmly between my teeth and was utterly determined to make the wreath that day...


I've had so many lovely comments on my wreath; the first week that I put it up, the postman rang the doorbell to tell me how pretty it was and someone asked Dave the other day if I sold them!  It makes the house look so welcoming and I always smile as I pass it on the way into the house.

When autumn rolls round I'm planning to make another wreath.  I've already been trawling eBay for artificial berries and ornamental leaves that I can bling up with some glitter and Mod Podge.  It's going to be so much fun!


Top tips for a perfect wreath


♥ Wire cutters are essential. Artificial flowers have sturdy wire running through their stems--you can't get away with kitchen scissors!
♥ If you want to make an asymmetrical (one-sided) wreath, put your flowers on the side opposite to the door handle of the door you intend to hang it from.  This will balance the overall look.
♥ Be aware that it is harder to hang an asymmetrical wreath than a perfectly balanced round one!  It is totally possible, but you may struggle for a few minutes.  I use a large transparent sucker and hook that I bought from Lakeland (unavailable until Sept 2014) a few years ago.
♥ Stab the foliage stems as deep into the wreath as you can so that it's easy to add the flowers on top.
♥ If you have a spidery cobweb of glue gun strands once you're finished, a quick blast with a hot hair-dryer will melt them away much faster than you can pick them off by hand.

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8 comments

  1. Did you try eBay? I bought wired burlap ribbon from a UK supplier last year.

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  2. Ohh it looks beautiful! I think if I hung one on my door it would get pinched with approximately 2 seconds, but I might have a go at one to hang inside! x

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  3. Oh Ang, this is gorgeous! I haven't seen any Summery wreaths but I absolutely love it. Will you take commissions if, say, someone was moving house in 2 sleeps time??
    M x

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  4. Possibly...it would be at cost, though, which isn't cheap! We're off on holiday soon, but shoot me an email and we can sort something out :) I never did get that other email, btw!!

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  5. I think the wreath popularity is coming from here in the US. We have wreathes up for everything - Xmas, Halloween, 4th of July to just because. Great way of adding some colour to your front door that's for sure.

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  6. Wow, what a beautiful wreath and such a good idea to have one all year round!
    X

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  7. This is gorgeous, Angela! One day I *will* find the time to try it out myself ... and I'll find somewhere that sells artificial flowers as I haven't seen any for ages. Although, I'm sure Ikea had some last time I was in there and they're pretty cheap all round normally :) x

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  8. duck in a dress4 August 2014 at 18:43

    Gorgeous wreath and such pretty colours! Perhaps you should start selling them, you could make quite a bit on the side with that! :-) xx

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