DIY: Wreaths

Christmas and the surrounding holidays are a tough time to be a broke-ass. There are parties, drinks, gifts, cookies and stockings and Secret Santas and White Elephants and egg nog and bells, oh my! It is, after all, called the season of giving not the season of thoughtful free hugs which makes it occasionally challenging to be of the cash-challenged persuasion. And decorating is pretty far down there on the list of things that deserve your dollars. Fortunately, there are about a million ways to get in the spirit without whipping out your wallet and one of the easiest places to start is wreaths.

You might be a redneck if this is your wreath.

Back in October, we covered ribbon wreaths and those will still work now – just change the color of the ribbon to red or green or silver trees and tie them around a Styrofoam circle. You can tear strips of holiday-themed cloth or re-use wrapping paper too.

If you’ve got a Styrofoam circle (which cost like $5), you’ve got a lot of other options, like an upcycled sweater wreath (cutting, tying), or wrapping your wreath in yarn, fluffy fake feathers or metallic leaves.

You can also glue to the styrofoam– buttons, paper back pages, Christmas cards (stencil, cut and glued). Felt balls produce a pretty whimsical result, fake flowers are more formal. Add sprigs of holy, branches, or fake snowflakes to make it feel seasonal. With a little bit of wire, you can also weave painted lightbulbs (hopefully used ones) into a bubbly wreath.

Or, if you’re into repurposing items consider using things you already have – like ornaments. String them onto a wire hanger bent onto a circle and, done (tip: you should glue the ornament tops down before stringing). You can also add balls of yarn in between ornaments.

If you’ve scored a grapevine wreath, you can use painted (or unpainted) pinecones. If you’ve got nothing that mentioned so far, you can still get down with cookie cutters (tied together), cork (floral wire and bells, strung together), paper cups (tucked into each other), food (cinnamon sticks, marshmallows, etc) or photographs (paper also looks good when added to the grapevine wreath).

There are lots more ideas and inspiration here, here and here for wreaths that have nothing to do with Martha Stewart.

Images courtesy pintrest.com, craftyendeavor.com, motherearthnews.com, thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com, twigandthistle.com, recylart.org