How To Make a Traditional Christmas Wreath

November 4th, 2014 | Christmas Decor, Learn How, Seasonal, Wreaths

Last year during the holidays my most asked question was ‘How do you make a Christmas wreath?”. This year I thought I would add to my wreath making madness and share a tutorial how you can make a Traditional Christmas Wreath. Making your own natural wreath is a great and inexpensive way to add to your outdoor Christmas decorations.

To start you will need to gather a few Christmas wreath supplies

Wreath ring (the coat hanger is for making a swag, see this tutorial). I can get my rings from a Christmas tree farm, but if you can’t find a basic flat ring, one from Michaels will do.
Balsam Fir, approx 25- 24″ branches
Pine, Cedar, holly clippings *optional for embellishment
Garden pruners
Floral wire
Wire snippers
Decorations/ floral picks
Floral sticks (cut skewers work too)
Ribbon (Mine is May Arts Ribbon)

How to make a traditional Christmas Wreath

1.) After you have scoured the woods for the perfect fir brush you are going to need to clip it down to wreath size pieces.

2.) The photo above shows how I would snip the ‘arms’ off, discarding the main branch. You will need to used approximately 25 large branches to complete a 14″ Christmas wreath.

3.) Secure the floral wire to the metal ring.

4.)Make a small bunch of brush about 3-4 pieces. Starting with a large piece in the back, and layer on smaller pieces.

5.) Twist the wire around the cut ends of the brush to secure it to the ring.

6.) Make a another bunch of brush. Lay the second bunch on top of the first, slightly lower.

7.) Wrap with wire 2-3 times around and pull the wire spool tight towards you to secure. The arrows are indicating where I have wrapped with wire.

8.) Repeat these steps, adding bunch by bunch until you reach back where you began the wreath.

9.) Lift up the ends of the first bunch of brush you started with and poke the final bunch in under the tips, wrap with wire to secure.

10.) To complete the Christmas wreath make a loop with the wire for easy hanging, and twist loose end around the wire frame.

11.) Now that your wreath is complete, use the pruners to snip back any pieces on brush that appear too long or out of place.

12.) Decorate your Natural Christmas wreath as desired

Below are a few Christmas wreath decorating ideas

You can use toothpicks or skewers wrapped with a small piece of wire to poke the decorations right into the greenery.

I love making wreaths it is the perfect way to start of the holidays. A fresh wreath will last in the cold weather all winter long! (it will likely last right up to spring, say if you forget about them… not that I would ever do that, just sayin’)

I love experimenting with all kinds of wreath arrangements. Here I added an oversized May Arts Ribbon 4″ Burlap bow, and some plastic deer I glittered from the dollar store.