Saturday, December 6, 2014

5 Ways to Dress-up a Basic Evergreen Wreath



Basic evergreen holiday wreaths are available here at most grocery and big box stores.


One of the best thing about these store-bought wreaths is that all the hard work is done for you. 

They're also affordable- I picked this one up at Walmart for $12.98. 

But, they are a little ho-hum. 

So for fun, I gave myself a little assignment: 5 ways to dress up and personalize a basic, store-bought evergreen wreath.

The first thing I did was to give my wreath a bit of a haircut. As you can see, it was looking a bit like a shaggy dog! You could barely see through the centre.


The first design I came up with was themed on birds and the color blue.  

How-to in a nutshell: (For more detailed instructions and a materials list, click this link.) Insert some boxwood sprigs, dogwood branches and red berries into your store bought wreath and allow them to catch in the mix of evergreens. 
Take some white craft paint and dry-brush "snow" onto the pinecones and branches where snow would naturally collect. Once dry, use florist's wire to tie the pinecones into the wreath.
Remove the rope hanger from a little cardboard birdhouse ornament, poke a hole in the bottom and inserted a florist's pic. Add a dab of hot glue to secure the pic onto the birdhouse. 
Insert the birdhouse pic into the wreath and allow it to catch in the evergreens. Clip 3 bluejays and 3 little bluebirds onto the dogwood and berry branches (I found these at Michaels craft store).
Finally, attached a blue bow with some florist's wire. 


My next idea was to use a mix of fruit and berries to add a little pop of color to all that green.


How-to in a nutshell: (For a more detailed how-to and a material list, click this link.) Take some white craft paint to dry-brush "snow" onto the pinecones. Once dry, use florist's wire to tie them into the wreath.
Insert some boxwood sprigs to add a some leafy texture. 
Next, add in red and orange berry branches and allow them to catch in the mix of evergreens. 
Apply a dab of hot glue to the bottom of the yellow and red mini-apples (I found these at Michaels craft store). Insert a florist's pic into the hot glue and hold it for a minute or so until the glue sets. Insert the finished apple pics into the wreath. 
Attach a red bow with florist's wire. 


I think roses are a lovely holiday flower. This wreath combines white roses with red berries.


How to in a nutshell: (For a more detailed how-to and a materials list, click this link.) Take some white craft paint to dry-brush "snow" onto the pinecones. Once dry, use florist's wire to tie them into the wreath.
Insert some boxwood sprigs red berries into the store bought wreath and allowed them to catch in the mix of evergreens. 
I bought a stem of little white silk roses and a stem of white forsythia (I found these at Michaels craft store). I cut the large stem into a number of shorter branches and inserted these branches into my wreath. 
I did the same for a stem of pearl berries and glittery gold eucalyptus (also found these at Michaels craft store)- cutting one large stem into several smaller branches. 
I then added the smaller stems of pearl berries and glittery eucalyptus. 
Finally, I fastened a white bow with some florist's wire. 



My third wreath is inspired by the "Twelve Days of Christmas" song that has the refrain 
"and a partridge in a pear tree". 


Okay, this probably isn't a partridge, but it is close enough.


How to in a nutshell: (For a more detailed how-to and a materials list, click this link.) Take some white craft paint to dry-brush "snow" onto the pinecones. Once dry, use florist's wire to tie them into the wreath.
Insert some boxwood sprigs and red berries branches into your wreath and allow them to catch in the mix of evergreens. 
Apply a dab of hot glue to the bottom of the yellow mini-pears (I found these at Michaels craft store). Insert a florist's pic into the hot glue and hold it for a minute or so until the glue sets. 
Insert the finished pears pics into the wreath. 
Gather three feathers together in your fingers. Hold them at the top of a florist's pic and wrap the fine wire around and around to create a feather pic. Insert several feather pics around the circumference of the wreath. 
Clip on your partridge.
Attach a red bow with florist's wire. 


I thought that my final wreath should have a garden theme- this is a garden blog afterall- so I decided to do a red ladybug wreath with a pretty plaid bow.


How to in a nutshell: (For a more detailed how-to and a materials list, click this link.) Take some white craft paint to dry-brush "snow" onto the pinecones. Once dry, use florist's wire to tie them into the wreath.
Insert some boxwood sprigs and red berries branches into wreath and allow them to catch in the mix of evergreens. 
Take a single large stem of glittery eucalyptus (found at Michaels craft store) and cut it into a number of shorter branches. Insert the shorter eucalyptus branches into your wreath. 
Take a large branch with gold glitter (found in the floral department at my local grocery store) and cut it into a number of shorter pieces. Add them into the wreath allowing them to catch in the evergreens.
Take the red wooden ladybugs (found in the craft section of my local Dollar store) and apply a dab of hot glue onto the back. Place them on the gold branches and hold them in place for a few seconds until the hot glue has set. Note: If you can't find ladybugs, festively colored butterflies might be fun (look for butterflies at Michaels)
Attach a plaid bow and jingle bells to the wreath with some florist's wire. 


While I was working away making these holiday wreaths I came up with at least 
five more themes...ah well, maybe next year!

Have a wonderful weekend!

20 comments:

  1. Jennifer!!! These are such beautiful wreaths friend!!! It is hard to even pick a favorite as they are all so stunning!!! Wishing you a lovely weekend! Nicole xo

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  2. Sweet! Love the fruit & berries one the best.

    Have a happy weekend!

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  3. So many beautiful wreaths, love them all but my favourite one is with the birds.

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  4. How many wonderful ideas, Jennifer!
    I love this one that combines white roses with red berries, ( are the roses fresh or dry?)

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    1. Hi Nadezda, The roses in my wreath are silk. I would think that you could use dried roses as well. Fresh roses would perish outdoors in the cold here, but in an indoor version, you could always use fresh roses that are inserted in a water pic. Just disguise the water pic amongst the evergreens.

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  5. Thank you for the wonderful ideas, Jennifer! We'll go back to Italy for the holiday and unfortunately we will leave only on the 24th (ouch!) so we won't have much time to decorate this year. But next year I am definitely gonna use your ideas! Oh yes! :)
    Happy second Sunday of Advent! xo

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  6. How very creative you are, I loved all these, especially the blue-bird, the red berries and white roses and the ladybird one, you should sell them, you'd make a fortune!
    I love the header of your blog too, lovely.xxx

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  7. Oh, I love them all – they are beautiful! But if I was to pick a favourite I think I would have chosen the one with the white roses. Thanks for all the great ideas – have a great week!

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  8. Jennifer, these are gorgeous!
    So hard to choose a favorite, but I think for me, it would be the "Roses and Berries" one.
    I just love it.
    Thank you for sharing here, and have a wonderful week!

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  9. Each and every one of these is beautiful and very inspirational...I can't decide which one I like the best. Thank you for some excellent ideas.

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  10. Loving you header photo this week - very different from your usual. Now you are showing your creative side designing these lovely wreaths - thank you for giving us so many ideas to follow - I don't usually do a wreath preferring to dress my mantel with foliage and berries. Have a great week - don't work too hard. Elaine

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  11. Love these all! I would have trouble deciding which one I wanted to try first. I'm not a very crafty person--well, I try, but oftentimes my efforts look pretty amateurish--but I think I could handle this. Yes, add more ideas for next year!

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  12. Very creative Jen. I do this each year, going out to the garden to add texture though greens, berries etc. It is fun adding personality to the wreaths.

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  13. Hi Jennifer! All five of these wreaths are gorgeous but the lady bug wreath stole my heart. My daughter loves lady bugs and this fall we had dozens of lady bugs all over our house. I have never seen that before and not sure why it happened but it was so cool. I do not think I could complete this challenge as well as you have. I am impressed!

    Thank you for your visit and kind words. So far, things are going very well with the new house and the new neighborhood and I hope the good luck continues! I think we are going to be okay.

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  14. My favorite is the wreath with the white roses. That is beautiful, although I have to say the blue jays look adorable.

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  15. Excellent instructions, Jennifer. I love all your wreaths. P. x

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  16. I love all your wreaths, they are beautiful! I like how you have custom made all of them and have provided us with good detailed instructions and tips. Thank you!! I also love them as they can be made to be seasonal, I love a pretty winter wreath. It cheers up the dull days of January and February too!

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  17. Wonderful ideas! My favorite was the first one, until I saw the lady bugs! That one stole my heart. Well done!

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  18. You have inspired me and as I comb my decorations to decide what to keep or get rid of, I will remember that some of the decorations can be recycled for a project just like this.

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  19. Great project Jennifer. My favorite is the 2nd ~ the fruit & berries wreath. I bet you had fun coming up with these combinations. I purchased a boxwood wreath for the first time this year and hope to keep it going all year.

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