On the back of our chimney there is a space in the backyard that has been screaming for a giant holiday wreath. Because of the larger size that I need, I thought it would be smart to wait until after Christmas to purchase a giant pre-lit wreath at a deeply discounted rate. I was wrong and after months of back-orders, I just cancelled and decided to move to plan “B”. With holiday merchandise back on the shelves I found that it was a lot cheaper to just make a wreath myself than to spend upwards of $150 on a wreath. With the help of my friend Tiffany (aka the wreath queen) she helped me make a 48″ wreath for the holidays for about $65! Here’s how.
I was able to score really big at Hobby Lobby by purchasing a plain 48″ pine wreath at 50% off. With a wreath this size, half-off is a big deal when it comes to saving money! Buying a wreath pre-lit is also a lot pricier than getting a plain one. This is why I purchased lights separately (25% off) with plans to wrap them around the wreath myself.
Tiffany, the wreath queen, met me at the craft store in order to help me select the filler for the wreath. I knew that I wanted to stick to traditional red, green, and gold, but really, the sky is the limit! When picking your wreath filler, think about the theme you are going for this holiday season. Rustic? Colorful? Whites? I also liked the idea of using pinecones and found these picks with these gold accents to complete my wreath.
To begin making the wreath we first wrapped the lights around in a spiral. We turned the lights on to make sure that they were placed correctly and could be seen through the branches. Once the lights were good to go, we then placed the pinecone and berry twigs where we thought they should go. I went back and forth as to whether I wanted all the decorations to be on one side with a big bow on the other, but ultimately putting a bow in the bottom center and the decorations on either side looked best.
Once we were happy with the placement of the decorations, the wreath queen schooled me on how to make a proper bow. Here is a great tutorial on making a simple bow for your DIY wreath. I used a wider wired burlap ribbon and a thinner red velvet ribbon for my wreath (both were half price).
We secured the finished bow to the wreath with floral wire. If you want to change your bow up next year, you can easily make another one and remove the previous one if it secured with floral wire. We then added in the embellishments around the bow and secured them with floral wire (if needed, the embellishments were wired and some were easy to bend and others were not). We also had hot glue on deck, but we didn’t need it after securing with the floral wire. For the final step: fluff! Fluff your wreath’s branches, the embellishments, and your bow.
DIYing your own wreath is a great way to save money and it isn’t an all day project. I think I spent more time searching the internet for a wreath to fit my style and space last year than I did actually making my own!
