DIY Rustic Christmas Wreath

 I had a hankering to make another quick and easy Christmas wreath, before it's too late! I can't believe it's less than two weeks until Christmas! I am a fan of making wreaths as inexpensive as possible. I either try to find decorations for my wreath for free by foraging in nature or for very inexpensive at the Dollar Tree.

What You Need:

-Buckeyes (I found mine while on a walk in my neighborhood)

- Glue gun

-Sand paper, medium grit

- Small wreath form: $1 

-Faux poinsettia: $1

- Christmas ribbon : $1

- Wired Jute Cord: $1

Here's what the items you need from the Dollar Tree look like:

Small wreath form

One sprig of faux poinsettia

                                                               9 feet of Christmas ribbon

                                                                       Wired jute cord

I added 6 buckeyes to the wreath as well. My buckeyes certainly were not perfectly shaped but I think it makes the wreath look even more rustic. 

Step 1: Unravel the ribbon and fold the end of the ribbons down and glue them in place. Let them dry completely.

Step 2: Glue one of the ends of ribbon onto the wreath form and let that dry all the way.

Step 3: Wrap the ribbon all the way around the wreath form, overlapping each section. Then glue the end and if you can, make sure it's in the back. If not, that's totally fine because we can glue pieces on top of it to cover it up later. Again, let the glue dry all the way.

It should look like this when you're done wrapping the ribbon. 

Step 4: While the glue is drying, go ahead and pull the poinsettia and leaves off the sprig. I only used one of the flowers. Flip the flower over and cut the little stump left from the stem down until it's flat. Also, take the leaves and glue one on either side of the back.

Step 5: Sandpaper the back of the buckeyes until there is some texture for the glue to stick to. This step is very important. I have skipped this step before on a different wreath and because buckeyes are so smooth, they all fell off my wreath very quickly. Make sure not to sandpaper too much, or it will make a hole! The nutty surface is not as thick as it seems. Wipe the dust off the buckeyes with a dry paper towel.

                                                                 

Step 6: Wrap the jute cord around the wreath, wide and spread out. Since it has wire, you can just twist it or tie it on the back to stay on, wrap it around, and then twist it on the end as well. The jute helps give it a more rustic vibe.

Step 7: Glue the flower/leaves to the bottom center of the wreath, covering any imperfections showing from the ribbons, if you have any.

Step 8: Glue the buckeyes onto the ribbon, on either side of the flower. I glued 3 on each side. You will need to hold the buckeye on the wreath until the glue is done drying, so it doesn't slide off. 

That's all the steps! Very easy and very inexpensive! You can hang it up with an over-the-door wreath hanger or just hang it up by the jute wire. 

Thank you for reading and a very Merry Christmas to you!

-Merewyn

DIY Dollar store Christmas Wreath

This DIY dollar store Christmas wreath is easy to make and only cost me $7.

Here's what you need from Dollar Tree:

1. Wreath ring

2. Red polka dot burlap ribbon (2)

3. Bag of acrylic gems

4. 3 different sprigs of Christmas faux flowers and berries. One of my sprigs had pine cones, cotton, pine needles, and berries on it. One was only poinsettias and one was only red berries.

Not from Dollar Tree:

Glue gun 

Here's what the Dollar Tree items look like:

Step 1: Unravel the ribbon and go ahead and put glue on the back of the wreath ring, on one of the vertical wires.

Attach the end of the ribbon to the back and then fold it over to the front. Let the glue dry completely dry.

Step 2: Wrap the ribbon around the wreath ring, overlapping the sections until you reach the end of the ribbon. One roll of ribbon should cover half the wreath ring.

Glue the end of the ribbon right onto the ribbon. 

The first half should look like this :

Step 3: Unravel the next roll of ribbon. Glue and attach the end of ribbon to the back, where you left off for the first ribbon and continue to wrap the ribbon until it's finished. No end pieces should be showing. Again, let it dry completely. It should look like this:

Step 4: Take the faux flowers and berries and pull them off the plastic stems. Pull the leaves off too. I glued all the bigger pieces on first. Then I added the leaves to fill in any sparse spaces and to make it look more natural. Lastly, you can add the acrylic gems to add a little bling and make it seem more icy and wintry. I only ended up using one of the poinsettia flowers but I used all of the leaves from its' stems.

When it's all dry, pull all the little "spider webs" off from the hot glue, and you're done!

Thanks for reading!

- Merewyn

DIY thistle wreath

A couple weeks ago, I went out to the creek near my house and cut some milk thistle flowers. They are prickly weeds, but they are SO vibrantly colored and pretty! So, I thought they would look nice on a wreath.

I forgot to bring my gardening gloves, so it is was a bit of a painful experience, haha!

I took them home and tied rubber bands around them and some clothes pins. Then I stuck them to my diy herb dryer.

I just love the gorgeous fuchsia color! These flowers are very large and thick, so it took a couple weeks for them to dry out. They had a couple spiders on them, so I returned the spiders back outside.

Alright, here we are now with them all dried out. Their color has become quite a bit muted, but I think they look rustic. Also, some more spiders appeared! They must be spiders from my basement that were attracted to their scent or something.

Alright, let's get started!

Here's all the supplies I used: A garden clipper, glue gun, gardening gloves, wreath from the dollar store, and the thistle flowers. I remembered the gloves this time! 

 

I chopped off the stems and used copius amounts of glue on the back of the flowers and just popped them right on the wreath!

So. Much. Glue. Below is the end result:

Time to hang it up!

You'd better like where you put it, because it hurts to move it! Those thistles are soooo sharp!

I ended up liking it but I think it's more appropriate for a fall wreath. It has those more muted colors that look rustic and cozy. This was all free because I already had all the supplies and the thistles were foraged. I love using what I already have around the house!

- Merewyn