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DIY Holiday Wreath

December 23, 2015

This year I made my first ever wreath! I've always wanted to try, and this year I finally did. For the last few weeks, I've been collecting various things (pinecones, berries, etc.) from hikes at our local parks and my backyard -- I finally put them to good use!

WHAT YOU NEED:

  • basic branches (make sure that they don't snap when you try to bend them)
  • pine branches (great way to put those Christmas tree trimmings to use!)
  • red berries / holly
  • pinecone(s)
  • twine
  • scissors / gardening shears 
  • hot glue gun (optional)

WHAT TO DO:

First, you'll need to gather your supplies. You definitely don't have to forage your own foliage like I did - a flower market / farmer's market / supermarket / whatever you have works perfectly fine. I am just a big weirdo who grew up in the woods - and have always loved collecting stuff (feathers, leaves, rocks - you name it, and I've probably picked it up!) It's actually quite absurd that it's taken me nearly 24 years to attempt making my first wreath... lol.

Start forming a circular base with your bendable "basic branches." If you go out to forage your own branches, I recommend breaking them off of a living tree - dead ones already on the ground will likely be too dry / brittle to shape into a curve. You could also buy one of those pre-made wreath bases from a craft store.

Tie branches together using twine. I double / triple knotted all my ties.

Once your circular base is formed, start arranging pine trimmings and tying those onto the base. 

As you add onto your wreath, you may be able to weave in pine branches without tying them. I personally didn't use my hot glue gun - but that is another option if you are too lazy to tie things. ;)

Attach pinecone(s) using twine (wrap around the center of the pinecone, not the ends).

Feel free to add anything additional of your choice. (I had a few sprigs of a different pine breed and some leaves that I think added another quirky layer to mine. #endlesspossibilities)

Last, weave in your holly. My wreath was full enough that I was able to wedge the holly branches into the little crevices and secure them without the use of twine or glue - but if you have trouble getting them to stay where you want them - feel free to use some.

Trim off any weird-looking rogue branches or twine. 

Tie off a loop of twine at the top of your wreath for hanging!

It was a lot easier than I thought it would be - and I'll definitely be making more in the future!

I have one more holiday post that I'm going to try to crank out this week (it involves something yummy) - stay tuned! ;)

In diy Tags crafting, Christmas, holiday, wreath, winter
โ† Candy Cane Christmas CookiesMuseum of Feelings + Stars by Stella Artois โ†’

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@AMYVENTURES
some photos from saturday’s plant & seed swap at @thelilliehouse โœจ๐ŸŒฑ๐ŸŒธ I made little origami seed packets to share some from my collection, and picked up some new things to add to the garden this year ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿป‍๐ŸŒพ - I think I’m most ex
a recap of last weekend - where I spent saturday listening to and reading @thealiciacook’s poetry at @chapteronemendham and sunday in a cemetery in PA ๐Ÿ™ƒ I wrote a poem on grief (a glimpse of it written here on slide 3, but the whole thing didn
mentally still here ๐ŸŒž

wrote a bit about this solo day trip over on my substack (icymi) - link in bio! ๐Ÿฆ

#seasideheights #jerseycollective #njisallgood #njisntboring #jerseyshore #islandbeachstatepark #boardwalk #seasidepark #southjerseyadventures
me going on a self directed โœจlittle treatsโœจ tour after a morning of minor inconvenience ๐Ÿ™ƒ

๐ŸŒฎ - lunch at @centraltaqueriaofficial (I ordered the portobello and nopal tacos)
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น - picked up a cannoli bombolione and loaf of fresh bread from @coniglio
always stopping to smell the flowers ๐ŸŒป (even if they are fake ๐Ÿ˜‚) 

and yes, yes we were the most colorful girlies at the park today โ˜”๏ธ๐ŸŒˆ๐Ÿ’–๐ŸŒง๏ธ๐Ÿฆ„โœจ (also, we were the only girlies at the park today ๐Ÿคฃ)

#rainyday #rainbowumbrella #ihavethisthingwithpi
stopped to check out @kasia.market after the shibori food scrap dye workshop a couple weekends ago โœจ

had a lot of fun going up and down every aisle selecting different goodies to try (and then proceeding to make a collage out of the food packaging I
happy first day of spring! โœจ๐ŸŒทโœจ 

some photos / videos from last year at @hollandridgefarms that I never got around to sharing (oops ๐Ÿ˜…) - better late than never! 

#spring #springflowers #happyspring #tulips #springequinox #tulipseason #tulipfestiva
friends who match(a) together ๐Ÿ‘ฏ‍โ™€๏ธ๐Ÿต๐Ÿ’–
saturday (back at @haricotvert ๐Ÿ™ƒ) to celebrate @inthecraftnook 2.0 (an absolute play paradise ๐Ÿ˜)

I put together a couple collage spreads using charming things that caught my eye ๐Ÿ‘€๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿš๐ŸŒธ๐Ÿฌโœจ + sprinkled a few of my business cards onto the (very abu
some more photos from sunday in hopewell โœจ after the workshop, I walked over to @hopewellfare in pursuit of @sourland_bread ๐Ÿž it was nearing their eod, so I wasn’t expecting there to be any sourdough loaves or much of anything left ๐Ÿ˜… but I en
a lovely sunday morning spent at @wullandoak learning how to shibori dye using food scraps (avocado pits & onion skins) with @_earthencolor_ ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿฅ‘๐Ÿง…โœจ

thanks @thesecondgleam for inviting me to join you and @darrenerbe! ๐Ÿซถ

#wullandoak #hopewellnj
our last stop last sunday was @marthascountrybakery ๐Ÿฐ regrettably, I did not take home a cupcake or slice of cake ๐Ÿฅฒ but the drive by of the pastry cases was an instant serotonin boost ๐Ÿ™ƒ (to be fair, I had some goodies from chinatown in my bag from
walked over to @taiyakinyc after @haricotvert for a little sweet treat ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿฆ๐ŸŸ almost ordered the “straight out japan” matcha hojicha swirl too, but opted for the “beach please” mango strawberry instead (for โœจvarietyโœจ) ๐Ÿ˜‰๐Ÿต๐Ÿ“โ›ฑ๏ธ
a literal dream world ๐Ÿ˜ @haricotvert
(charm bar, cafe, craft nook) 

- ogle over all the tiny adorable things โœจ
- diy your own jewelry (bracelet, necklace, earrings, keychains, etc) ๐Ÿ’Ž
- enjoy a sweet treat from @dreambeanbk โ˜•๏ธ
- attend an event/wor
the excitement of finding out it’s a โœจfunโœจ bathroom ๐Ÿ’๐Ÿป‍โ™€๏ธ

@spicymoonnyc #spicymoonnyc #spicymoon #nyc #bathroomselfie #ihavethisthingwithpink #neonsign
brunch / dim sum at @spicymoonnyc with @sarabryn & @k6anana ๐Ÿฅณ๐ŸฅŸ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐ŸŒ๐Ÿฅข did not manage to get a picture of everything we ate because we dug in right away ๐Ÿ˜…, but did manage a very nice โœจdrink photoโœจ 

what we ordered: (& shared) ๐Ÿœ
- dan dan n
a (much needed) sunny sunday for the soul in nyc ๐ŸŒž - started off with a long overdue frolic through chinatown โœจ I had wanted to get out here for some of the lunar new year events ๐ŸŽŠ, but it didn’t quite pan out.. ๐Ÿฅฒ despite missing the festivi
spring in the garden state ๐Ÿฅน๐ŸŒท๐ŸŒธ๐ŸŒฟโœจ

#spring #newjersey #jerseycollective #njisntboring #njisallgood #locallivingnj #flowers #april #northjerseyadventures #gardenstate
some photos from saturday’s plant & seed swap at @thelilliehouse โœจ๐ŸŒฑ๐ŸŒธ I made little origami seed packets to share some from my collection, and picked up some new things to add to the garden this year ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿป‍๐ŸŒพ - I think I’m most ex a recap of last weekend - where I spent saturday listening to and reading @thealiciacook’s poetry at @chapteronemendham and sunday in a cemetery in PA ๐Ÿ™ƒ I wrote a poem on grief (a glimpse of it written here on slide 3, but the whole thing didn mentally still here ๐ŸŒž

wrote a bit about this solo day trip over on my substack (icymi) - link in bio! ๐Ÿฆ

#seasideheights #jerseycollective #njisallgood #njisntboring #jerseyshore #islandbeachstatepark #boardwalk #seasidepark #southjerseyadventures
the only place I wanna to be on a 75 and sunny saturday is down the shore ๐ŸŒž๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿญ๐ŸŽก๐Ÿ•๐ŸŒ…

#seasideheights #jerseycollective #njisallgood #njisntboring #jerseyshore #islandbeachstatepark #boardwalk #seasidepark #southjerseyadventures
me going on a self directed โœจlittle treatsโœจ tour after a morning of minor inconvenience ๐Ÿ™ƒ

๐ŸŒฎ - lunch at @centraltaqueriaofficial (I ordered the portobello and nopal tacos)
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น - picked up a cannoli bombolione and loaf of fresh bread from @coniglio always stopping to smell the flowers ๐ŸŒป (even if they are fake ๐Ÿ˜‚) 

and yes, yes we were the most colorful girlies at the park today โ˜”๏ธ๐ŸŒˆ๐Ÿ’–๐ŸŒง๏ธ๐Ÿฆ„โœจ (also, we were the only girlies at the park today ๐Ÿคฃ)

#rainyday #rainbowumbrella #ihavethisthingwithpi stopped to check out @kasia.market after the shibori food scrap dye workshop a couple weekends ago โœจ

had a lot of fun going up and down every aisle selecting different goodies to try (and then proceeding to make a collage out of the food packaging I happy first day of spring! โœจ๐ŸŒทโœจ 

some photos / videos from last year at @hollandridgefarms that I never got around to sharing (oops ๐Ÿ˜…) - better late than never! 

#spring #springflowers #happyspring #tulips #springequinox #tulipseason #tulipfestiva friends who match(a) together ๐Ÿ‘ฏ‍โ™€๏ธ๐Ÿต๐Ÿ’– saturday (back at @haricotvert ๐Ÿ™ƒ) to celebrate @inthecraftnook 2.0 (an absolute play paradise ๐Ÿ˜)

I put together a couple collage spreads using charming things that caught my eye ๐Ÿ‘€๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿš๐ŸŒธ๐Ÿฌโœจ + sprinkled a few of my business cards onto the (very abu some more photos from sunday in hopewell โœจ after the workshop, I walked over to @hopewellfare in pursuit of @sourland_bread ๐Ÿž it was nearing their eod, so I wasn’t expecting there to be any sourdough loaves or much of anything left ๐Ÿ˜… but I en a lovely sunday morning spent at @wullandoak learning how to shibori dye using food scraps (avocado pits & onion skins) with @_earthencolor_ ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿฅ‘๐Ÿง…โœจ

thanks @thesecondgleam for inviting me to join you and @darrenerbe! ๐Ÿซถ

#wullandoak #hopewellnj
when that first hint of spring is in the air ๐Ÿ™ƒ๐ŸŒณ๐ŸŒผ

#dogsofinstagram #rescuedogsofinstagram #spring #weeklyfluff #fortheloveofpets #bestwoof #dailybarker #adoptdontshop
our last stop last sunday was @marthascountrybakery ๐Ÿฐ regrettably, I did not take home a cupcake or slice of cake ๐Ÿฅฒ but the drive by of the pastry cases was an instant serotonin boost ๐Ÿ™ƒ (to be fair, I had some goodies from chinatown in my bag from walked over to @taiyakinyc after @haricotvert for a little sweet treat ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿฆ๐ŸŸ almost ordered the “straight out japan” matcha hojicha swirl too, but opted for the “beach please” mango strawberry instead (for โœจvarietyโœจ) ๐Ÿ˜‰๐Ÿต๐Ÿ“โ›ฑ๏ธ a literal dream world ๐Ÿ˜ @haricotvert
(charm bar, cafe, craft nook) 

- ogle over all the tiny adorable things โœจ
- diy your own jewelry (bracelet, necklace, earrings, keychains, etc) ๐Ÿ’Ž
- enjoy a sweet treat from @dreambeanbk โ˜•๏ธ
- attend an event/wor the excitement of finding out it’s a โœจfunโœจ bathroom ๐Ÿ’๐Ÿป‍โ™€๏ธ

@spicymoonnyc #spicymoonnyc #spicymoon #nyc #bathroomselfie #ihavethisthingwithpink #neonsign brunch / dim sum at @spicymoonnyc with @sarabryn & @k6anana ๐Ÿฅณ๐ŸฅŸ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐ŸŒ๐Ÿฅข did not manage to get a picture of everything we ate because we dug in right away ๐Ÿ˜…, but did manage a very nice โœจdrink photoโœจ 

what we ordered: (& shared) ๐Ÿœ
- dan dan n a (much needed) sunny sunday for the soul in nyc ๐ŸŒž - started off with a long overdue frolic through chinatown โœจ I had wanted to get out here for some of the lunar new year events ๐ŸŽŠ, but it didn’t quite pan out.. ๐Ÿฅฒ despite missing the festivi

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