HOLIDAY WREATH Making a Decoration You Can Keep and Use for Years
	DECEMBER 2004

by Sheryl Biddle

I’ve been making wreaths professionally for five years. I like making these because they allow free expression for my artistic urgings. You can make holiday wreaths in an almost infinite variety. Two people can be given the set of materials and both can create a lovely work of art, each one altogether different than the other’s.

I never tire of watching the transformation of a bucket of ribbons and a box of accessories into a lovely object that brings joy and delight to people who see it.

That always feels great!

I used $60 worth of materials to make the wreath shown in the article. I might pay $120 or more for this in a store — perhaps much more. I could have used less-expensive materials — no velvet poinsettias, for example — and made it for even less money.

I’ll show you the basic steps in making a lovely holiday wreath for your own enjoyment.

Materials
Tools:

• Wire cutters
• Needle-nose pliers
• Scissors
• 24-gage floral wire
• Glue gun or glue pot (guns are faster; pots are safer)
• Four or more decorated picks. These are available in a huge variety. The ones shown in the example had beads on them.
• Artificial wreath of any size.
• 3.5 yards (or more) of holiday ribbons, depending on the size of the wreath.
  Plan on at least a yard for each large ribbon you will make.
• Christmas balls. Buy these already arranged on picks, if possible. (This was the first year that I saw these.)
• Artificial flowers and fruit.
• Several bunches of artificial filler flowers or berries.

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Steps

1. Lay the wreath on a table.
2. Tie the ribbons into one or more bows and wire the bow(s) to the wreath.
3. Arrange the flowers, but don’t glue or wire these yet.
4. Add filler to give balance and dimension. When satisfied with the arrangement, wire and glue all the pieces into place.
5. Glue the tales of the ribbons into place with a little drop of glue.
6. Double-check everything to make sure each piece is firmly in place.

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Tips

• Choose a small wreath and make your first wreath as a learning experiment. Go on to larger ones after you get a little experience and develop confidence in your abilities. Don’t be discouraged if you aren’t perfectly satisfied with your initial result. I looked at my first attempt to make a wreath and said, “Never again!” Fortunately, I changed my mind.
• Be bold. Don’t be afraid to fail. There are classes you can take if you want to improve your skills.
• You can make your wreath symmetrical. This mean each fruit, flower, ball, filler, etc. on one side is balanced by another on the other. Or make the wreath asymmetrical, as in the example. For asymmetrical designs you need to concentrate on the composition, making sure to give an impression of balance in spite of the lack of symmetry.
• Choose the decorations of appropriate size to the size of your wreath.
• For larger wreaths you should use larger flower heads and ribbons that would over-weigh a smaller wreath.
• Don’t allow any of the decorations to lead your eye out of the wreath. Keep the focus of the composition centered upon the wreath itself. (This is a design principle that is commonly violated by amateurs.)
• Add other things, e.g., pinecones, to suit your tastes. On larger wreaths I’ve used small items like hobbyhorses, musical instruments, nutcrackers, Santas, teddy bears, and gingerbread figures.
• Don’t glue anything into place until the pieces are all arranged to your taste. Stand the wreath up or have someone hold it up for you. Walk back a few steps. These look different when they are standing up and at a little distance than when you are bent over them. The visual focus changes as perspective shifts.
• Don’t go overboard with too many flourishes and decorations.
• This isn’t a difficult point, since you can always remove excessive accessories.
• You can buy wreaths inexpensively, as cheaply as $4.99. The wreath in the example costs $16.99. You can also get them tipped with artificial snow.
• You can get wreaths made out of grapevines. They are much more difficult to make than the regular branches, and you have to have a good eye to see how to place the decorations for a pleasing effect.
• You can save time if you glue all the pieces into place — especially if you have a glue gun. Wiring is a lot of bother, but much better for heavier items. After I wire heavy objects, I then go back and glue them into place, as well.
• You can save money if you watch the stores for sale items.

If you’re not concerned about money, you can save a lot of bother if you just call me and have me custom make a wreath for you.