THE EASIEST WAY TO MAKE A LIVE WREATH

I am going to show you the EASIEST most amazing way to make a live wreath. You will wonder, "why didn't I think of that"? That's what I thought when I learned this technique at a wreath decorating demo last year.

 You will be able to make gorgeous, lush, full, live wreaths... FABULOUS!!!!

It will revolutionize your Christmas decor and gift giving... OR ... at least make people ooooh and ahhhh!

I made this wreath in under 40 minutes for a gift exchange! 

Here's how...

Materials:

any old artificial green wreath (the more *snarly the better)

fresh greens~ short-needled evergreen and other greens for interest

hot glue gun or hot glue pot

old garden gloves

ornaments or other Christmas decorations

bow

wreath making stand, optional

*snarly: adj... motley, beat up, worn out

This is how the wreath first starts out... pretty thin and quite snarly! Fluff it up the best you can.

Use old garden gloves when cutting the evergreen.

Cut fresh greens. Use lots of Christmas tree greens like frazer, douglas, balsam or other short- needled, hardy evergreen branches for the base of the wreath.

I buy a Christmas tree that is a "B" grade or "second". It cost me about $20.00 for a 6 foot tree. My local greenhouse sells them. I cut it apart and keep the clippings in a trash can ready to use.

Cut the greens to match the size of wreath you are making. 

Liberally glue the end of the cutting and glue on to the wreath. If you have a fuller wreath to begin with, stick the fresh cuttings deep into the wreath,

 Continue to glue evergreen cutting to the wreath. Work in one small section at a time. DON'T go in one direction. Glue in your cuttings in all directions. Remember to make some stick straight out too!

Wear old garden gloves to glue... if you don't you WILL get burned!

I put my wreath on a small wreath stand to see how it will look placed vertically. Don't forget to glue cuttings in the inside of the wreath too!

We are just getting started... big difference already!

Work all the way around the wreath with the short-needled cuttings.

Now, it's time to add some other greens to the wreath... just not hemlock. It will drop it's needles very quickly.

I usually keep a basket of assorted greens.... I buy a few yards of ropings and cut it apart myself. A much better value!

 For this wreath I added white pine, regular cedar, incense cedar and boxwood.

Starting with small clipping I glued them here and there, concentrating where they would be seen.

Shake the wreath vigorously to make sure there are no loose branches.  Glue any loose ones back into the wreath.  It's a good idea to do this outside, you will have some needle dropage!

Make a bow out of ribbon and wire in place.

Add some ornaments or other Christmas decorations such as berries, holly, silk poinsettia, etc.

I wanted to keep this wreath very subdued so I chose green balls with just a little bit of glitter.

Hot glue them liberally and put them in place.

Clean up any glue spiders and hang!

Here is a big wreath I made for my front door using this method...

You can read more about this wreath by clicking HERE

When Christams is over DO NOT throw away your wreaths. Just put them in a garbage bag and hang them up in a garage, shed or basement.

In the fall, take the bags outside and open them up. All the live greens will now be dead. Wearing garden gloves, give the dead greens a good tug and they will pull right out. Now you have a snarly wreath to use for more wreath making. You can also reuse any ornament or decor!

Do the same thing again next year... and the next...

I told you this was easy and FABULOUS!

Remember to