Making a New Holiday Wreath to Complement Our Updated Exterior
Recently, we updated our home’s exterior. While the front is red-orange brick, the wood was repainted with gray greens, a gray-brown door, and warm white trim. Copper accents really work well with this combo. With the holidays upon us, it was time for an update to the front door wreath too.
Materials
I really like the simplicity of greens with ribbons and cowbells, so after pinning some ideas for inspiration, I decided on the following materials.
- 18″ diameter grapevine wreath
- Several floral sprays of eucalyptus, lamb’s ear, and pine boughs with tiny pinecones and berries (it is too warm here for fresh branches to last, but you can substitute!)
- A mini set of outdoor lights with a timer
- Roll of 2 1/2″ velvet green ribbon
- Roll of 1 1/2″ copper fabric ribbon
- Twine — if needed to hang bells
- Printed cream ribbon of choice — I purchased my Noel ribbon from the Etsy shop Posy Pop
- Cowbells – 2, I used the same size but you could change up the sizes or use sleighbells – be aware of the weight as they can make the wreath heavy to hang
- Krylon FUSION ALL-IN-ONE Gloss Metallic Gold Spray Paint and Primer In One
- Lightweight gauge floral wire
- Scissors for ribbon
- Scissors to cut floral wire
- Suction cup hook or two (to handle the weight) or wreath hanger
- *Please note, I have no affiliation with any of the brands or stores in this post.*
Putting it All Together
So I had a vision but was having trouble sourcing the bells locally without spending a fortune. When I came across these bells, I thought they’d work but I’d need to paint them gold. You can skip this if yours are already good to go. Here is a link to mine. Yes, they are white (and were only $3), hence the gold paint (and I always have some around). On a paint cloth outside, I sprayed each bell, let them dry, sprayed again, and hung them in the garage overnight to dry completely.
While waiting for the paint to dry…
In the meantime, after the bells were sprayed, I went ahead and made the rest of the wreath.
- First, arrange your sprays around the wreath and slide them into the grapevine, then cut pieces of floral wire long enough to wrap around the wreath. Twist each wire securely around a spray and then twist the ends of the wire together on the back side of the wreath.
- Using the velvet ribbon, make a simple bow (like you tie your shoe) leaving the ends long and trimmed diagonally. Add a center knot using a second piece of ribbon and tie it on the back of your bow. You can use these ribbon ends later to attach the whole bow to the wreath so don’t trim them.
- Next, using the copper and printed ribbon, cut these as streamers to go through the center of the back knot of the velvet bow. Then thread them through, making sure the printed one’s words show to the front. Trim their ends diagonally. At this point, you can also thread the bells through and attach them to the ribbon, or attach them directly to the wreath. Mine came with twine already on them, but you can use twine or ribbon too.
- To the top of the wreath, secure the bow with the streamers and bells. Using the ribbon you made the center of the bow with, take the ends and thread through the wreath to the back and secure. If you wish to light the wreath at night, use the mini lights to wrap completely around the wreath and secure the battery case behind the bow so it isn’t seen. Set it to turn on/off automatically.
Now it’s ready for hanging. You can use a wreath hanger if your door works with this, or do what I did and use a heavy-duty suction cup hook to hang it. Hide the hook by fluffing the bow.
Stand back and admire! Happy Holidays!
