Christmas /winter wreath low cost and easy

This Winter/Christmas wreath is almost free and very easy to make in an afternoon,
you can find all materials in nature,
only the gluesticks and some optional decorations cost a few bugs.

Your not forced to do this as a wreath, you could use the same technique for a rectangular or maybe a star shaped centerpiece.

Hope you like it :)

Step 1: Materials

Leave your house for once and get the needed stuff from mother nature.

14 ft ( 4metres)  of thin branches (diameter ca 0,5 inch and less) i chose willow because it growes back very quickly.
some small pinecones
moss (Cladonia rangiferina) dries very quickly, (if you can't find it there's some in your craft store :P)

tools:
Gluegun (3-4 sticks needed)
scissors
secateurs for the branches
pen and paper
protractor (what a word)

Optional for decoration:
glitter
gold/silver spray paint
pearl-garland and a candle

Step 2: Measuring

take your paper and pencil
and draw with help of the protractor 4 lines that cross each other in an 45° angle (see the picture)

now you can draw 2 (outer and inner) circles from the middle as big as you want your wreath.
Draw a octagon ( simply draw lines from the points where the lines cross your circles)
measure the lenght of  the lines -hard to explain in english but you'll figure it out i'm sure!

Know you know how long you have to cut your branches .

In my case it was an outer diameter of 30cm (11,8 inches) and the length of the line were about 11,5cm (4,5inches)
the inner length was 7cm (2,76 inches).

Step 3: Cutting an glueing

cut the branches with your secateur:

4 pieces outer length
4 pieces outer length plus 2cm ( 1inch)

4 pieces inner length
4 pieces inner length plus 2cm ( 1inch)

It's now rocket science and the pieces don't need to be very accurate.

example: for my wreath it was:
4x 11,5cm (4,5inches)
4x 13,5cm (5,31 inches)

4x 7cm (2,76 inches)
4x 9cm (3,54 inches)


Now lay the pieces on your drawn octagon as shown on the pictures glue them together
I glued the longer pieces on top of the short ones, but i think it doesn't matter.

Step 4: More cutting and glueing

join the two octagons with a triangle of branches (see the pictures)
now it should be quite sturdy.

cut all your remaining branches into random pieces, long, short , thin, thick - much variation makes it nice,
glue the pieces randomly on your octagons - the should cross and always be glued on two points for maximum strength.
keep going until you are pleased with the hight and look of the costruction.

It's a very sturdy construction now.

Step 5: Add moss

take your moss cut it in desired size and glue it in the gaps between the
branch-pieces.

keep going until you're pleased with the result.

you can add more later so don't overdo it.

Step 6: Pinecones

if you like take some spray paint and cover the cones in a light gold /silver / whatever coat,
thats optional it looks even great  if you leave them as they are.

glue the cones to the wreath as desired, i chose to glue a medium sized and a small one together.

Step 7: Some optional decor

The wreath look already nice and you can leave it as it is.

i Choose to add some pearls of a christmas-garland i already have since 10years :o)
to do so, light a candle and melt the thread on the end of the garland
take the scissors and cut single pearls.

add them randomly to the wreath.

More things you could add:
cinnamon sticks
small ornaments
some glitter

Step 8: Admire

Comments

[capricorn]

Sweeeeeeet :) thank you for sharing, this is absolutely lovely :)

[ChrysN]

Gorgeous wreath!

[Mimikry]

thank you :)
today i went out for one more moss-and cone raid!
a whole bucket waits to be wreathed :)

[sunshiine]

Very pretty wreath! It welcomes the holidays! thanks for sharing!
Sunshiine

[Mimikry]

thank you :)
I'm in desperate need for snow and christmas feeling (okay maybe a little early, but it's dark out there :) )
that's why I came up with it.