Fancy dollar store Christmas wreath project

Crafts

Dec 22

Even though there’s only a couple more days till Christmas, it’s never too late to spruce up the house for company. I love decorating for Christmas, but I am not a big fan of spending a ton of money on decor, especially if I can make it or upcycle something myself.

Last year, I went a little crazy at the dollar store and bought some cheap wreaths that I just didn’t love enough to put up again this year. They looked cheap and I wanted something a little more special for Harlow’s first Christmas (i.e. something that would look great in photos).

Luckily for me, my friend Dani is a Christmas decor specialist with her own farmhouse-chic store called Wisp of Rustic. I asked if she had any advice for my wreath dilemma, and so she came up with this project for taking ugly cheap wreaths and making them pretty.

All tips and tricks are from Dani… she is also my hand model.

Supplies:

cheap green wreath
dollar store burlap
nice decorative ribbon (this was on sale at Michaels)
wire or twine (I only had wire, but Dani recommends the twine)
extra decor pieces (I used berries I bought last year, and Dani provided the wood pieces)

First thing’s first – we need to fluff the crap out of the cheap wreath to get it looking as good as it can be. There is no rhyme or reason to fluffing, Try to make the stems go in all different directions so that it looks natural.

Keep doing all around, making the burlap fluffy in between. Tie, fluff, repeat.

Go all the way around doing this until you have something that looks like this:

Now you’re ready to start adding embellishments. For the bow, make two loops (one big and small) put them together and tie in the middle. Add one long strip and cut a triangle out of the ends to finish it off. If you have ribbon that’s printed on both sides, you can make two continuous circles rather than cutting them individually.

Finish off with some DIY wood ornaments (stamp your favourite festive picture or phrase), and whatever additional decorative elements you might have lying around the house, and attach everything to the wreath.