How to Make a Rustic Frame Christmas Wreath
Christmas has come a bit early to my house this year. This is quite unusual, because I’m not early for anything. But I must say, it’s been fun to get a head start on my decorating because I just LOVE Christmas. I can’t wait to share my rustic frame Christmas wreath with you today!
So why am I breaking out the Christmas decorations so soon after Halloween? I am thrilled to be a participant in the Deck the Home Blog Hop, hosted by Eileen from Just Measuring Up and Megan from Two Feet First. For five weeks, I’ll join twenty five talented DIY bloggers who will post their holiday creations every Monday morning. This week’s theme is door decor. After you check out my wreath, be sure to hop on over to the other blogs for plenty of creative ideas!
I’m pretty traditional when it comes to decorating my front door. I like a fresh evergreen wreath. I’ll usually purchase a plain one and decorate it myself. Since it’s so early in the season, there are no wreaths available yet at the stores. So I decided to make my own. To change things up a bit, I made a rectangular wreath instead of the usual circular style. I had an old frame on hand that I used as the form. It measured 18 & 1/2″ x 14 & 1/2″. Other supplies I used include pruning shears, work gloves and florist’s wire.
First, I gathered an assortment of greens from the woods and my own yard. Be sure to wear gloves so you don’t get pricked and/or covered with sap. I used balsam fir, pine, cedar, holly, rhododendron, and boxwood.
I tied together 1-2 stems of balsam fir and one stem of pine with green florist’s wire.
I repeated this process until I had 10 bundles.
I decided to work outside because the weather was gorgeous, close to 70 degrees. It was an unseasonably warm day in Connecticut. My assistant, Fergus, enjoyed the mild weather, too!
It was chilly again the next day, so I had to move my operation back inside. I laid the frame down, right side up, and started to attach the bundles to the frame.
I secured them to the back of the frame with florist’s wire. Working upwards, I overlapped the bundles until the frame was completely covered with greens.
Looks like someone needs a haircut!
Here is the view from the back side.
Next I trimmed the wreath just enough to accentuate the shape of the rectangle. It doesn’t have to be exact. I actually prefer some imperfection.
Then I filled in a few places with cedar, rhododendron, holly and boxwood for added interest. I just tucked them into the wreath and secured in place with a hot glue gun.
While I have lots of ribbons and holiday trimmings in my stash, I wanted this wreath to have a natural, rustic feel. So I collected some pinecones, acorns and a twig from outside. My mom and I used to take nature walks in the Fall, where we’d look for abandoned bird’s nests and other natural elements for decorating. If you’re new to this blog, my late mom was the other Zucchini Sister and my decor icon.
As luck would have it, I had a real nest from a past foraging trip as well as some feathers and faux birds and eggs. I arranged the natural elements on top of the wreath.
I hot glued the birds onto the twig, and the eggs into the nest.
Finally, I secured everything else to the wreath with hot glue. Just a note…I was very generous with the hot glue!
And that’s it! I love how it came together…
Thanks for stopping by today! I hope my rustic frame Christmas wreath got you in the Christmas spirit! If you enjoyed this post, you may like these other Christmas crafts:
- DIY Boxwood Style Holiday Tree
- DIY Stenciled Holiday Music Sheet Sign
- DIY Neutral Holiday Pom Pom Wreath
Don’t forget to click the links below to see some other fabulous door decor ideas.
Have a wonderful day!
Rebecca
So beautiful! I love that you were able to make it out of clippings from your home!
Thanks Samantha!
wow, Rebecca, your wreath looks amazing! I love all the natural elements!
Oh my goodness, this is so creative! I love the fact that you used all natural greenery, and I adore the little birds and the nest with the eggs. 🙂 So pretty!
Thank you Amy!
I sure hope you paid your assistant extra for all the help I’m sure he did haha 🙂
Hi Carmen! Luckily all he wants for payment is a scratch behind the ears and a walk around the neighborhood 🙂
My favorite Christmas wreaths always include fresh greens and I really like how you have used a picture frame to create yours! Especially love that it is not a traditional shape!!
Thanks Maureen! I like the traditional fresh greens too! It’s nice to be hopping with you again!
I love all of these natural elements! So so pretty!
Thank you Brooke!
Hi Rebecca – I LOVE this! It’s so creative – I love how you used the picture frame and nature 🙂 My son keeps bringing in every leaf, twig, acorn, everything from outside, so I finally put a bowl by the door so he can just drop his nature finds in there. He would absolutely love if we made something with it – so thank you for the inspiration! Also, my dog looks like yours! Mine is gray labradoodle lol 🙂
Thanks Eileen! That would be so sweet to use your son’s special finds as Christmas decorations. You could hang some on the tree, as well! Fergus is an Irish Wolfhound, but he and your dog do look alike!
I love the use of all the natural elements!
Thanks Amy! I love natural elements too. It was a fun project 🙂 Happy Holidays!
Rebecca
I love how this looks on your front door, all those natural elements are just perfect for the season.
Thanks Sarah! I was very happy with how it looked against the blue door. And nothing beats the natural smell of pine! Happy Holidays!
Rebecca
Love this! There is just something about fresh cut pine that gets me in the Christmas mood!
Thanks Jessica! I agree, there’s nothing like the smell of pine that says Christmas. Thanks for stopping by!
Rebecca
Oh my gosh this is so cute! I love that you also used an old picture frame for your project. And the birdie theme nestled in the greenery is adorable.
Thanks Toni! Yes, you can do a lot with old picture frames! I always have a few on hand for projects. And I do love my birds! They make me smile 🙂 Happy Holidays!
Rebecca
I love your nature inspired wreath!! I can almost smell the pine!! And using a frame for the wreath form is genius!!!
Thanks Lidia! The pine does smell wonderful, that’s why I use it! The sap can be very sticky, though, so the work gloves are a must. The frame worked out great for the wreath form. It was just the right size. Frames are so versatile for craft projects, and they’re a dime a dozen at tag sales! Happy Holidays!
Rebecca
This is so cool. How long will it last?
Thanks Kenya! This will probably last about a month if kept outside. I usually wait until after Thanksgiving to put up my evergreen wreaths, but I made this one early for the blog hop. I’ll just take this apart and make a fresh one later. Luckily, the greens are free and it’s an easy project! Thanks for stopping by!
Rebecca
Nice! A month is still good timing. Thanks for sharing.
Square is the new round for door decor, right!? What a fir-ry fun idea- and the little birdies are a nice touch. Love all the fresh greenery here. Happy Holiday!
Thanks Christine! I totally agree…my inspiration came from a square wreath I saw at a florist shop last week. My wreath wasn’t hard to make, and the best part? It was free because I used a tag sale frame and greens from my yard. Happy Holiday to you too!
Rebecca
I think you and Fergus did a wonderful job… I love all the greenery! Of course, my absolute favorite part are the cute little birds eggs. So sweet!
Thanks Betsy! Most of the greens came from my yard, so you can’t beat that for a cheap project. I love the birds eggs, too. They were actually from my mom’s stash, so I was happy to find a great way to use them. It’s nice to be joining you on this hop!
Rebecca
I love your use of natural elements. Your wreath is beautiful! And Fergus is adorable, too!
Thank you Laura! I had fun making it. It was so nice to be outside that day with Fergus…he’s my buddy. Thanks for stopping by!
Rebecca