A Thrifty Way to Dress Up Your Front Door

How to make a simple fall wreath.

by Tiffany Dara C. Johnson

Customizing your own wreath can give your front door that personalized touch. By having control over the size, shape, colors and trimmings of your wreath, you will make your entryway unique among the sea of doors in military housing. Additionally, the cost of making a wreath can be substantially less than purchasing a premade one, allowing you the freedom to make one for every occasion.

Materials Needed
Blank wreath, wire cutter, wire, choice of silk flowers and greenery, hot glue gun (optional), coordinating wide ribbon (optional). 

Instructions

Step 1. Pick a blank wreath. Options include an open bark round wreath, while some wreaths are already covered with greenery. You can choose a shaped wreath, such as a heart, oblong, or rectangle.  

Step  2. Many silk flowers and greenery come in a bunch. Separate the stems by using your wire cutter and bending the stem back and forth to snap off individual pieces for use.

Step 3. Precut 2-3 inch lengths of wire using the wire cutter. The wire will be used to wrap the silk flowers and greenery onto the wreath. You can use your hot glue gun if you feel prefer to use glue instead of wire.

Step 4. Pre-arrange flowers and greenery onto the wreath. Feel free to try different arrangements.

Step 5. Attach greenery onto the blank wreath by twist tying parts of the greenery onto the wreath.   When wrapping the wire, try to tuck in the wires into the body of the wreath, to prevent injury and to make the wreath more visually appealing.  You may also attach the greenery with a hot glue gun.

Step 6. Attach the silk flowers onto the wreath using the same method as stated above. Note that many silk flowers have stems that are made of coated wire, and you may use that instead to attach it onto the wreath.

Step 7. Hang your wreath and enjoy your work.  If necessary, create a loose bow for the wreath to aid in hanging.