I've been wanting to make a homemade wreath since I saw these beautiful, 'real leaf' examples on Pinterest last Christmas. I think there's something so special about being able to gather the materials for your wreath yourself! So, of course, when I saw that the trees in our garden were starting to shed their gorgeous red and yellow leaves, I had to come up with an autumnal version of those perfect Christmas garlands to share with you all.
The technique in making this wreath is really quite simple, all you need is a little bit of time and patience, a few basic materials and some super dextrous fingers! Don't be put off by the thought of this being a tiny bit fiddly, however- if clumsy old me can manage this craft without having a complete breakdown, anyone can!
All you will need for your wreath is:
- A selection of leaves/pinecones/flowers from the garden
- Some garden wire
- A pair of pliers or wire-cutters
- A roll of floral tape
- Some kitchen roll to blot the leaves
Of course, you don't have to use real leaves for this wreath if you can't gather enough to go round. You could use paper cut-out leaves (like this, so cute!) some felt flora or even fake plastic ones instead, it's completely up to you!
Real or fake leaves aside, the first thing you'll need to do is to make the shape of your wreath from garden wire. I kept mine pretty twee in order to fit onto our door hook but however big or small you decide to go, always be sure to leave some excess wire to wrap your circle together.
Once you've got a good base for your wreath, you can get started on gathering the leaves together. I found that leaves with long stems tended to be easier to work with, as I could wrap the wire and tape around them in a bunch without things getting too fiddly.
All you need to do for this bit is select four or five leaves and arrange them together into a kind of mini leaf bouquet, making sure that their stems are long enough to be tied together. If you have any extra autumnal bits or bobs, like pinecones or acorns, you can tie them in to this bundle too!
Once you've got a good bunch, wrap a section of floral tape around the stems and pinch everything together to get a tight bundle.
Then fix this bundle onto your wreath with a small length of wire or another bit of floral tape. I found that the further I got around the wreath, the easier and less fiddly it was to use the tape instead of the wire for this bit BUT if you have a thinner wire or a heavier bunch of leaves, it might be a better idea to continue using the wire all the way round.
Keep on layering up your leaf bundles all the way round your wire base until you get something like this!
Your leaves might need a little adjusting and 'filling out' to ensure they cover up the base and you can't see any bits of green wire poking through!
As a final step, you could also twist a simple wire hook to the top of your wreath to make it easy to hang from a nail or door handle.
And that's it!
Do you have any leafy crafts you like to make at this time of year? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments below.
In the meantime,
All the love,
Sian x
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