Each year after Thanksgiving, Joe and I go to a local tree farm and cut down our own Christmas tree. We’ve been doing this since we spent our first Christmas together in our first little apartment. We decorate it with mostly collected ornaments – some old, some new, some gifted, and some from places we’ve been or milestones we’ve had. It’s a labor of love and it’s ours.
Every year we get that tree and bring it home, filled with pride that we cut it ourselves and it didn’t fly off the roof of the car. We get it down, give it a good shake, find it’s best angle, and chop off some of the bottom branches and a wedge of the bottom. Over the last few years I’ve saved the discarded branches (and sometimes gather extras from the tree farm). They make a gorgeous wreath for only a couple bucks. Sometimes there’s even enough for fresh garland.
Fresh Christmas Wreath
What you will need:
- Wire wreath form – I used an 18” here, but it made a massive wreath. Go smaller if you have less clippings or a smaller door. Costs only a few bucks at any craft store.
- Evergreen clippings – cut up those branches from the bottom of your tree into smaller pieces
- Shears
- Floral wire
- Ribbon (optional)
1. Get your supplies ready. Chop up those branches, make a pile. Spread out some newspaper if you want to protect your surfaces from sap. I highly recommend this if you are doing this inside. When I’m impatient (like this time), I always end up scrubbing sap and chasing needles.
2. Start by sticking one evergreen clipping into the wreath form so that it wedges under one of the cross-wires. Then continue by adding a couple to this spot. gradually move your way around the wire frame, sticking clippings into the frame far enough that they feel secure. Don’t worry about perfection, you can always go back and add pieces here and there, as well as clip some of the stray odds and ends. This is NOT a perfect science.
3. Next you want to secure these branches to the wire frame with floral wire. Start by securing the wire to the frame in the back somewhere. Doesn’t matter where . Knot it in place.Then, pulling tightly, wrap the wire around and around the frame and evergreen clippings. I try to keep it a little hidden by leaving some sprays out. Continue doing this all the way around. Secure the end of the wire to the back of the frame.
4. Hang that bad boy up and check it out. Mine was a little heavy on one side, so I added some twigs in the lighter areas, just taking some floral wire and tying them in. I had other areas that were a bit straggly – too much hanging out. For these areas, just take a snip of floral wire and wrap it around some of the shoots and pull them in toward the wreath frame and secure to the frame.
5. Add a bow and maybe some ornamentals and hang up that gorgeous creation! I use two upside-down command hooks on the inside of my door. This way, when I don’t have a wreath up I don’t have to just look at the hooks.
Please give this wreath a try, if not this year than next. It will save you a ton of money and it always lasts longer than the store bought. Plus, you can customize it however you like.
Up next will be how to make fresh evergreen garland with whatever remaining bits of those tree scraps you might have left! Stay tuned!
Crafty Bridge 