Greetings beauties! I’m so grateful you’ve popped over. Today I’m sharing a VERY easy way to create a beautiful door wreath. I had been wanting a door wreath for our home exterior for some time. One day on a neighborhood walk the inspiration came to me. That’s when I decided I was going to make our door wreath rather than purchasing one.
bamboo!
What better way to make a DIY door wreath than with elements from our natural surroundings? Down the street from where we live there is a long stretch of bamboo trees. Not wanting to take any cuttings from someone else’s trees, I simply gathered pieces that were lying along the ground and on the road. Not only did I do some friendly neighborhood cleanup, but I waddled home with two arms full of bamboo sticks!
I had never worked with bamboo before, but I knew that it was both flexible and strong. In my collected bunch I had both older or more dried up sticks and I also had greener, more “fresh” sticks. What I noticed is that even the older sticks were flexible and not brittle when I bent them. If you choose another type of plant twigs to work with, be sure that they don’t break off when you bend them.
1. prepping
It’s easier to work with thin sticks for this project. The thicker the branch, the harder to thread around your wreath ring. I first cut the thinner parts of my sticks and discarded the thicker parts. You can use a box cutter or a plant lopper for this task. I also stripped off any small off shoots on the sticks. I kept some for character but it’s easier to work with a bare stick.
materials
*plant pruner/lopper
*thin bamboo twigs/sticks or other type of flexible tree branch
*metal wreath ring
*fishing line
*scissors
*ornamental succulents or other ornamental plant (optional)
2. weaving
Now for the fun part…Take your first stick and while holding one end down at the top of the ring, like your pinching it against the ring with one hand, use your other hand to start weaving. You are basically wrapping the stick around the ring, all the way around or until you run out of stick. Some longer pieces will make it all the way around, but some will not depending on the length. Next, tie some fishing line to secure the first stick. Tie at the top of the stick and at the bottom. Here is how the wreath looked after the first two sticks were added.
Continue weaving sticks under and over the ring. Weave through and wrap around other sticks as your wreath thickens. Add fishing line to secure sticks as you go, but you do not need to add fishing line after every stick. As the bamboo gets more bulky on the ring, it will hold itself together better. If there is a twig that sticks out too far out from the circle when you weave it around, you can simply use the fishing line to tighten it into better alignment with the rest.
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3. Finish
Once you get your wreath as thick as you like it, you can leave it as is for a simple natural look. Or you can sprinkle in a few ornamental flowers for a decorative touch. You have to be careful with ornamental plants because some can look fake and cheapen the look. I chose some succulents from Hobby Lobby that I felt added to the rustic appeal of the wreath looked pretty realistic. Below I present both versions: with the succulents and without. Personally I like both looks. Let me know if you prefer one over the other. I would love to hear your thoughts!
And now, for the succulent version…
Be well my sweet friends. Until we meet again!
