Wreaths are one of the easiest things to pull together for the holidays. It will only take you 10-15 minutes and you'll have exactly what you want.


 
You can either start from scratch (with a wire form) or take much less time by starting with a plain, unadorned, pine or boxwood wreath. You can pick them up in the grocery stores, at the Christmas Tree lots or even at Trader Joe's (where I purchased mine) for $9.


 

 
I just started with some greens that I picked off a Laurel bush on the side of my house. It even had berries on it! You can also use Eucalyptus branches or citrus leaves and branches; whatever you have available to you. First tuck your short branches (with leaves attached) into the wreath at 3-4 inch intervals, evenly dispersed around your wreath. You can usually tuck the branches under a wire that is already there or the tight branches that are already wired to the form. Be sure that you are placing the branches in the same direction that the other (already wired) branches are going in.


 

 
Then find some tree or shrub branches that do not have leaves and do the same. Tuck them in next to your laurel bush branches. This adds a different texture and gives your wreath a fuller look.


 

 
If you have some fruit or nuts (anything with a stem that will not rot right away) laying around, just take some floral or craft wire, wrap it around the stems and then attach the fruit to the wreath with the same wire. I used 3 fuyu persimmons that I had which were hard as a rock.


 
Next I added 3 pinecones (the same way I attached the fruit) with craft wire. If you don't have pinecones readily available, and you used fruit in the last step, then you can use nuts in this step. Really anything will go together. You just want to make sure you have a few different textures and colors.


 
The last step is to add your ribbon. I used about 2 yards of french wired ribbon that I just wrapped around the wreath and attached in the back.


 
Voila! you now have a customized wreath for your door or mantle.
 
Have a great weekend...Lori