by Amanda

We've decided to give the traditional holiday wreath an American Meadows' makeover by adding our own sweet touch: dried wildflowers! All you need to easily make your own are some cut greens, berries, dried flowers from your garden, and a wreath form. The best part about making your own wreath is you can customize it with whatever decorations and ribbon fits your style. Once you make one of these, you’ll be hooked!

Easy Holiday Wreath DIY: Gather Your Materials

Most of the materials for your wreath can be found in nature and/or a quick trip to your local craft shop:

• Cut greens. Boxwood, cedar, fir, holly, and juniper, are all great options. If possible, cut fresh greens from your own landscape or use clippings from your Christmas tree! The fresher, the better.
• Berries, pine cones, or other decorative items that you’d like to add.
• Dried flowers and/or grasses from your garden. I went out and cut a variety of Sunflowers, Grasses, Goldenrod, and Zinnias that had dried right on the stalk. They don't have to be perfect!
• 12-18” wire wreath form, depending on what size wreath you’d like.
• Floral wire.
• Snips/wire cutters.

Easy Holiday Wreath DIY: Step By Step

Making the wreath itself is really fun and doesn’t take much time at all. Gather all of your materials together at your kitchen table or another comfortable workspace with plenty of room:

1. Cut all of your greens and berries to the size you want for each bunch. I used an 18” wreath form and cut each piece of greenery to about 5-6”. I cut each sprig of pip berries to about 10” and then bent them in half.
2. Tie the floral wire at the back of the wreath form and wrap it several times (tightly) around the form. Don’t cut the wire -- you won’t cut it until the very end.
3. Make your first bundle! Put together 2-3 pieces of greenery with berries or whatever other decorations you’re using.
4. Place the bundle on the wreath form. Wrap the wire around the bottom of the bundle and the wreath form several times to secure it.
5. Layer your next bundle underneath the first. Alternate each bundle to face in or out until you’ve filled the entire wreath.

6. After you wrap the last bundle, cut the wire and tie it in the back of the wreath form.
7. Start playing around with different groupings for your dried flowers. You can either place them throughout the wreath or bundle them all together on one section. I chose to bundle them all together and place them on the side of my wreath towards the bottom.
8. Use floral wire to secure the stems all in a bundle, then cut the stems as short as you can (still leaving room to wrap floral wire around them and the wreath form).
9. Place your bundle on the wreath and wrap the floral wire around it and to the form.
10. Cut the wire and secure it to the wreath form in the back.
11. Add your ribbon if you want a bow. I used a simple red ribbon bow to help hide the clump of dried flower stems on my wreath. I thought it brought everything together nicely.
12. Display your gorgeous DIY holiday wreath on your front door or anywhere else you want to add holiday cheer.

One of the best parts about making your own wreath is that the greens are extremely fresh, which means your wreath will last well past the holidays! If you added a Christmas-y bow, simply remove it at the beginning of January and keep your wreath up through the winter.

Have you made your own holiday wreath? Please share your experience in the comments below!