It’s time to deck the halls! And what better way to do so than by customizing your own holiday wreath? To help you create your own stunning wreaths this year, we teamed up with Ida Blooms founder Annie Heath. Whether your style is funky and asymmetrical, or classic and refined, Annie breaks down three elegant (and easy!) holiday wreath ideas.
The Simple Eucalyptus Wreath
Here’s What You’ll Need:
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- 22 gauge paddle wire
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- Flexible Greenery such as Eucalyptus Baby Blue, Italian Ruscus, or Myrtle
- Ribbon
Step 1: Make Your Base
For this mini-wreath, the base is simply wire twisted together to form a circle. Start by cutting roughly 30 inches of paddle wire, and twisting it into a 6-8 inch diameter circle.
Step 2: Add Your Greenery
Using the long strands of your flexible greenery (for this wreath we used eucalyptus baby blue), weave over and under your wire base. Continue adding stems, weaving around the wire and tucking under the other stems and greens, until you’ve reached your desired thickness, roughly 3-4 strands of greenery. Use small bits of floral wire as needed to secure your greenery.
Step 3: Hang Your Wreath
To keep things simple, wrap a long piece of ribbon around the top of your wreath and create a loop to hang. If you want to dress things up a bit, you can tie a bow at the top and let the extra length hang loose on either side.
The Asymmetrical Wreath
For this wreath, we used fresh curly willow branches, which are a flexible material. You could also use grape vines, or purchase a natural wreath base from your local flower mart, craft store, hardware store, or online. But, making your own is easier than you think!
Here’s What You’ll Need:
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- 22 gauge paddle wire
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- Curly Willow Branches
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- Mixed Greenery such as Pine, Eucalyptus, Berries, and Silver Brunia
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- Scissors
- Ribbon
Step 1: Make Your Base
Starting with one curly willow branch, twist your wire around the two ends to connect and form a circle. Then, weave the remaining branches from your bunch (approximately fifteen branches in total) to create a more secure, round structure. Start the branches at varying points of the circle, tucking ends between other branches to secure them. The more branches you add, the more circular your wreath will become. Leaving some ends sticking out from the circle will only add to the overall charm.
Step 2: Bundle Bits of Greenery
Now it’s time to adorn! Gather three to five pieces of your mixed greenery collection to create a small, 5-7 inch arrangement. As an optional step, you can remove the needles and leaves from the last half inch of every stem, for a clean area to wire. Your end result should look like a small boutonniere.
Step 3: Secure Your Bundles
Lay your little boutonniere-style bundle flat on your wreath base, and hold it in place with one hand. Use your other hand to wrap the wire around the stems and the wreath base. Wrap the wire 3-4 times, until the small boutonniere arrangement is secure.
Without cutting the wire, repeat this process, creating another greenery arrangement, about 5-7 inches tall. Hold it on the wreath base, so the greenery covers the stems and wire of the first arrangement. Wrap the wire several times around the new stems to attach it to the wreath form. Repeat.
You can add as many little arrangements to your wreath base as you’d like. If you opt for an asymmetrical look with exposed branches, lay your final small boutonniere facing the opposite direction of all your others, so the stems are touching one another. Wire the boutonniere arrangement to the wreath that way, then finally cut the wire. Cover the exposed wire with a ribbon or bow.
Step 4: Hang Your Wreath
To hang this wreath, wrap an eight inch piece of wire around the top of your wreath form. Twist the ends into a hook. Alternatively, you can weave a long piece of ribbon through the inside of your wreath, and tie the ends in a bow.
The Traditional Metal Frame Wreath
Metal base wreaths are the most traditional. You can find these wreath bases at any craft store, flower mart, hardware store, or online. If you don’t want to make you own, you can also start with a simple magnolia leaf wreath and jump right to the floral adornment bit below.
Here’s What You’ll Need:
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- Metal wreath frame (ours was 10 inches)
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- Scissors or shears
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- Ribbon
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- 22 gauge paddle wire
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- Flower tubes
- Mixed greenery and florals such as Magnolia Leaves, Pine, Silver Brunia, Peonies, and Ranunculus
Step 1: Create Greenery Bundles
Like the natural wreath, start by creating a small boutonniere-style arrangement out of your floral supplies. We used magnolia leaves for this wreath, so our boutonniere arrangements were on the large side at 8 inches tall.
Step 2: Attach Your Bundles
Once you’ve bundled three to five leaves and stems in your hand, lay it flat on the metal base. Then, wrap a 22 gauge paddle wire around the stems and frame several times. Without cutting the wire, create a second arrangement of stems and leaves. Lay it flat onto the base so the greenery covers the stems and wire of your previous arrangement. Wrap the wire around the stems and frame several times, until the new arrangement is secure.
Step 3: Attach Flowers
When adding live flowers that require a constant water source to your wreath, it’s necessary to “tube” the arrangement. You can buy these flower tubes in bulk at your local greenhouse, craft store, or online. Fill the tube with water, add the rubber cap, then poke the stem of your bloom into the cap.
When attaching tubed florals, it’s easiest to attach the tubes by themselves. Lay it flat onto the wreath form, and wrap the wire several times around to secure it to the wreath base.
Step 4: Alternate & Repeat
Repeat this process, alternating between tubed blooms and small greenery arrangements. Make sure each addition is facing the same direction, covering the stems and tubes of your last, until the entire frame is covered. If you’re using magnolia leaves as we did, alternate the green and the brown side of the leaves when creating the securing your bundles.
Step 5: Hang Your Wreath
To hang this wreath, simply feed a ribbon through the inside of the wreath form and tie it in a knot at the ends.
How To Care For Your Wreaths
Your live wreaths will last for approximately two weeks – a little less if you include tubed flowers. Using a spray bottle, mist the wreaths every other day with water to keep them fresh.
Discover chic centerpiece arrangement ideas HERE.
Photos by Lyola Rowe, produced by Skylar Frederick