If you have followed me for awhile, you may have noticed that I have not been writing for some time. Big changes have been happening in our world and one has been a large focus on my flower farm! This season has been spent focusing primarily on the growth of that and raising Miss Charlotte, who is three now!! With the farm being put to bed for the season I have more room to work on my first passion, writing and creating! Still with nature, this week I’ve made a holiday wreath with fresh evergreen and dried naturals, saved from the field!
This page may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission when you make a purchase, but it does not effect your cost. Thank you so much for your support of A Chick And Her Garden! ~ Staci
This page may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission when you make a purchase, but it does not effect your cost. Thank you so much for your support of A Chick And Her Garden! ~ Staci
What Evergreen Varieties can be used to make a Holiday Wreath?
The great thing about evergreens are their ability to hold up after being cut, and how easy they are to refresh if they start to droop or drop needles. If you’re hanging your wreath on an exterior door the coolness will keep them fresh longest. But, just spraying it with a bit of water when you notice dropping needles should be enough to give it a refresh.
Some great varieties of evergreen to use when you make a holiday wreath include:
- Arborvitae
- Douglas Fir
- Cedar
- Juniper
- Holly
- Boxwood
- Red Twig Dogwood
- Thuja
In the wreath I’m showing you today, I’ve used a combination of Arborvitae, Douglas Fir and Juniper for a loose, rustic feel.
Related Posts
What other Naturals can be added when you make a Holiday Wreath?
Many of the holiday wreaths that we see hanging over the season are full of bows, bulbs and other glittery synthetics. And honestly, some of them I think are absolutely beautiful! But there’s something about adding touches of naturals that just make evergreen holiday wreaths feel that much more authentic. Below is a list of dried naturals that add a great touch when you make a holiday wreath. And if you don’t have access to your own dried naturals, some have links to Amazon to order your own!
- (and here is a tutorial for drying foraged pinecones to open them up!)
- Celosia
- Dusty Miller
- Sweet Annie
- Strawflowers” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Strawflower
- Dahlia
- Amaranth
-
What other supplies will you need?
There are a few other supplies needed to make a holiday wreath, and some you may already have around the house.
- Wreath frames” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Wreath Frame
- pliers” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Pliers
How to Assemble your Holiday Wreath
Making a holiday wreath is basically assembling numerous small bouquets and wiring them over each other in a round. This is shown in the graphic below. But I’ll go into a bit more detail if you’re not feeling confident.
To start, cut up a few pieces of each variety of evergreen, as well as some of your dried naturals.
Play around with this first bunch to find how you want your evergreen bouquet to look. For the wreath shown, I started by layering the evergreens first, arborvitae, fir, juniper and one more smaller bundle of arborvitae. After I arranged the evergreens, I layered my dried naturals on top.
At this point you’ll want to secure your bundle with floral wire. Wrap the wire tightly around the stems leaving two 6 inch pieces of wire. Twist the two pieces tightly at the base of the wires close to the stems. The 6 inch pieces will be used later to tie the bundles down to the wreath frame.
Continue making bundles that match your first bundle. I added dahlia’s to every other bundle.
Once you have enough bundles, or just need a break from the bundles, you can get started tying them down to the frame.
Place one bundle down at a time, and feed the two pieces of wire through the frame. I like to use the two center pieces of the frame to wrap around. Wrap the wire pieces back up and around the frame and bundle once or twice finishing in the back and twisting the ends tightly again with your plyers, like you did with your bundles.
For each piece after the first, place it so that it covers the stems of the previous bundle and repeat the steps above to tie it down.
You can see in the photo above that while you make a holiday wreath, there will be gaps that happen where some bundles weren’t symmetrical. This is totally fine! When you’ve finished covering the frame in bundles you can go back through and either tie some of the longer stems in to the outer and inner rings of the frame. Or you can just add an extra stem or two to fill it out.
After you’ve finished tweaking it to your liking, you can add a bow to hang, or hang as is! What is your favorite color palette for the holidays? Tell me in the comments!