wreath Archives - Pretty Handy Girl

arts and craft, Home Decor, Upcycling, wreath

Cheap to Chic: Thrift Store Wreath Makeover

half cheap wreath, half expensive looking wreath

I’ve noticed many people are jumping right into decorating for Christmas. In a year where we’re only looking for some cheer, I can completely understand. Today I’ll show you how to dress up a basic cheap wreath to make it look like an expensive one. From Cheap to Chic: A Thrift Store Wreath Makeover.

Cheap to Chic: Thrift Store Wreath Makeover

Never pay a lot for your holiday wreaths, because today I’ll show you how to get an expensive look without a lot of money. First, you’ll want to score a cheap wreath. I bought this wreath at a thrift store and it had some pretty ugly berries on it (which I’ve already pulled off).

Where to Score Cheap Wreaths:

Thrift or Consignment Store
Craig’s List or Facebook Marketplace
Clearance (look after the holidays)
Buy a Basic Wreath (this one is only $15)
Trash (you never know when you’ll find a wreath curbside!)

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Basic Wreath (18″ is an ideal size)
Smaller Boxwood Wreath (or any second wreath larger or smaller than 18″)
Floral Wire
Seeded Eucalyptus (purchase at a florist or grocery store) or Yard Clippings

Optional:

Instructions:

You’re going to love how quick and how beautiful this cheap to chic wreath makeover is!

If you bought a thrift store wreath, go ahead and remove any tacky decorations you don’t like. You can always save them for another craft or just pitch them.

Pair with Another Wreath:

To get a lot of impact, pair your wreath with a smaller or larger wreath. I used a smaller boxwood wreath to fill in the center. The nice thing is it fit tightly inside my faux pine wreath. You may need to use floral wire to secure the wreaths together.

Add Real Greenery:

To hide the tacky fake wreath, add in real greenery. Head to the floral section of your grocery store and look for seeded eucalyptus. If they don’t have any, ask them to order some for you. This was the cheapest route (unless you have a friend or neighbor with a eucalyptus tree.)

Don’t want to leave home? Head outside and scour your yard. Look for a variety of greenery! Cut some pine, spruce, juniper, magnolia, rosemary, or holly branches.

Hanging Your Wreath:

You can add a ribbon to hang your wreath from or create a loop using the floral wire. Hang your beautiful chic wreath on the door, over your fireplace, or anywhere you want some holiday cheer!

2 Minute Makeover for Your Cheap Wreath:

To show you how easy it is to transform your cheap thrift store wreath, watch my quick two-minute video.

Be sure you’re subscribed to my YouTube channel to get access to all my DIY tutorials.

I hope you enjoyed this easy cheap to chic wreath transformation and you’ll never give an ugly Christmas wreath a disgusted look again.

November 13, 2020/0 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

arts and craft, Home Decor, wreath

DIY Modern Floral Wreath

Modern wreaths are beautiful and simple in nature. Learn how to make your own DIY modern floral wreath and let me share how I saved money on flowers!

DIY Modern Floral Wreath

Originally I wanted this to be a spring wreath, but well…it’s summer now isn’t it? But, this wreath can still rock the spring and summer look.

I found this flower garland on clearance and decided it would be a more cost effective than buying lots of floral stems.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Instructions:

Watch the video to make your own DIY Modern Floral Wreath or scroll down for the step-by-step instructions.

Gather your supplies (listed above.)

Use good wire cutting pliers to remove the flowers you want to use from a garland (or clip off the stems from your flowers.) Lay your ring on your work surface.

Layout some greenery as a base for the shape of your wreath.

Then fill with large and medium-size flowers.

Arrange and tuck in some smaller flowers to fill out the wreath.

To attach the flowers to the wreath use floral wire. You will probably want to wear garden gloves for this. I started out without the gloves and ended up drawing blood unnecessarily (live and learn, right?)

Twist the floral wire around each stem until it’s secured. Continue attaching flowers to the ring until all the flowers are secured.

You can use a ribbon to hang your wreath, but I like to use fishing line for a less frilly appearance.

Hang your wreath on the door, a wall, or anywhere you need to bring some Spring or Summer cheer!

Did you like this simple wreath? If so, you’ll love Karen’s Simple Fall Wreath. It’s so simple to make, you can create one for every season!

July 1, 2020/0 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Crafts, DIY, wreath

DIY Faux Succulent Wreath

Make your own faux succulent wreath and add a little greenery to your home. Use a few supplies from the dollar store and this simple tutorial to make this beautiful DIY Faux Succulent Wreath!

DIY Faux Succulent Wreath

I’ve been itching to add a little more greenery to our home lately. It’s finally green outside, so I wanted to bring some of that green into the house too! I was digging around in my craft stash and found a whole bag of faux succulent stems. These were leftover from another DIY project from long ago and were taking up space in my craft closet.

This past weekend was the perfect time to use up those supplies and add some greenery to our home by creating a simple wreath. Let me show you how easy it is to make your own DIY faux succulent wreath with supplies that can be found at the dollar store or online (or in your stash)!

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

I am using a grapevine wreath that I picked up several months ago from the dollar store, but I decided to paint it white for this project. If you prefer to leave yours natural, feel free to skip step 1.

Instructions:

Step 1- Spray paint grapevine wreath

Spray paint wreath form using a quality spray paint in the color of your choice. The best tip for painting a grapevine wreath is to spray from different angles, using short bursts of paint. This will help get the paint into all of the nooks and crannies. Keep in mind it may take several coats to get good coverage.

Step 2- Attach succulents to wire

If the succulents you are using have long stems you may not need the floral wire in this step. However, the wire does help secure them to the wreath form better.

To attach, simply wrap a piece of wire around the base of an artificial succulent. It may be necessary to use pliers to help with this step. Snip off excess wire with wire cutters. You will be left with something that looks like this.

Step 3- Arrange larger succulents onto the wreath

Attach the succulents to the wreath by either tucking the floral wire into the grapevine wreath or wrap around to the back of the wreath.

It’s best to place the larger succulents first to create a good foundation layout to work with.

Step 4- Add smaller faux succulent stems to fill in empty space

Once the larger succulents are placed, fill in any gaps with smaller succulents. You could also add in small sprays of artificial eucalyptus or even some moss. Be creative!

Step 5- Finish with a ribbon to hang

To finish off your faux succulent wreath, choose a ribbon to hang it with or just simply use some jute twine. Since my wreath is hanging on our DIY chalkboard, I chose just a simple organza ribbon with no bow. Finish it off how you’d prefer.

Personally I prefer my wreaths to be simple, so less is more. If you prefer filled out wreaths, then by all means, fill that baby up with all of the faux succulents!

Using multiple colors and styles of faux succulents will give you the best contrast and wow factor, so stock up on several varieties!

What do you think? Will you be making your own faux succulent wreath for your home?

I’m Amanda, and I am the creator and voice behind the food and DIY blog, Domestically Creative. What started as a place to share updates with friends and family after we moved from Illinois to Tennessee and then to Texas, turned into a passion for finding creative and frugal ways to feed us and decorate our homes.

I have always had the “make it myself” attitude and I’m not afraid to bust out the power tools or get creative when it comes to decorating our home on a budget. You can usually find me scouring the local thrift stores, garage sales and estate sales looking for my next makeover (like this litter box cabinet), or dreaming up ways to make our new house feel more like home. My most recent project was giving my home office a much needed facelift. Some of the plans included creating a fun inspirational accent wall and adding pegboard to store my craft hoards.

I currently call Missouri home, where I live with my husband, dog, and 2 cats in a pretty dull, late 90’s split level. My husband and I both love to travel the U.S and recently purchased a small travel trailer to tag along in our journeys. In our free time together we can usually be found working together on a home project, exploring a new place, or just lounging with our pup, Delilah.

I’d love for you to connect with me on social media via Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter!

See all of Amanda’s tutorials HERE.

May 13, 2020/0 Comments/by Domestically Creative

arts and craft, decor, DIY, Home Decor, pottery barn inspiration, wreath

DIY Floral Spring Wreath for Your Front Door

Hello, Pretty Handy Girl Readers!

I’m back today with a fun project for your front doors! This beautiful baby breath’s wreath – perfect for Spring. I love making my own wreaths because I can customize them exactly the way I want. And I can save a bunch of money by making them myself, too.

The first thing I do before making any wreath is to collect some inspiration. I look at a bunch of shops, like Pottery Barn and Etsy to get an idea of what kind of wreath I want to make. I’ve learned the hard way that it can be extremely overwhelming (and easier to overspend) when you don’t have a plan in place first.

To make a wreath like this one all you need is a simple, inexpensive grapevine wreath and some faux flowers of your choice. In this case, I used all baby breath stems to keep a uniform look. Michael’s and Afloral.com seem to be the best places to get these materials at the best price. In fact, Michael’s is almost always running a sale on their floral department and you can usually find an additional 40% off coupon online. However, Michael’s can be overwhelming as I said before. They have so many options! It’s important to know what kind of wreath you want to make first so you can easily gather the flowers you need. Otherwise, you might be there all day! 🙂

Here’s another tip for you. While I really enjoy making wreaths, I don’t have the room to store a lot of them. So, I tend to make each wreath somewhat temporary. Meaning, I don’t permanently attach the florals. I like to have the option to change up the look using the same Grapevine Wreath. Another way to save a little bit more money!

So let’s get started.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Grapevine Wreath (I used brass gift toppers from Target, Amazon and craft stores sell bells too.)
Scissors or Wire Cutters
Faux Florals of your Choice
Floral Wire – (optional, you may not need this)
Ribbon for Hanging

Instructions

Follow these steps to make this lovely Spring Wreath.

Step 1: Prepare your Floral Pieces

When you buy faux flowers, most of the time they come in bunches or with a very long stem attached. We need shorter stems and mainly individual flowers when making a wreath. Using your wire cutters, cut your floral bunches into individual flowers and cut any long stems a bit shorter.

Don’t cut stems too short! You do want some stem to be able to insert them snugly into your grapevine wreath.

Step 2: Start Attaching your Florals to your Wreath

Now, you can attach your florals fairly securely just by pushing the stems snugly into the intertwined branches of the grapevine wreath. That is why you may not need any floral wire at all! I only ended up needing a little bit of wire to secure a few pieces. Use your wire cutters to snip off a piece of wire. With the wire holding your stem to the wreath, twist the back to secure it. You can carefully use your wire cutters to help twist the wire in the back. Be careful, the floral wire can be sharp!

Periodically pick up your wreath to make sure that your floral pieces are secure and not falling off.

That’s pretty much all you need to do to make this pretty wreath!

Step 3: Hang up your new Spring wreath

It’s time to hang it up! I use a command hook made especially for hanging wreaths.

I just attach a little loop of ribbon or string to the back of the wreath. Then, I just hang the loop directly on the hook.

It works really well and has never fallen off (even with young kids slamming the door one too many times!)

I really hope you enjoyed this project and it brings some Spring joy to your homes. If you love making wreaths, check out my other DIY Spring hoop wreath project here on Pretty Handy Girl.

Thanks so much for reading and being here today. I’ll meet you back here next month!

~ See More of Karen’s Tutorials ~

Hello! I’m Karen, the creator of the Home Decor and DIY Blog: Decor Hint. I’m a Native of the East Coast, but I currently live in beautiful Seattle with my hubby, our two wonderful children, and our spunky wheaten terrier.

You can usually find me with some sort of craft in one hand and a coffee in the other. And I’m always rearranging furniture or moving lamps from room to room. I have a passion (read: obsession) for decorating, DIY, and gardening. In short, I love making my house into a home.

Like many, I’m inspired by what I see in home decor magazines, but I’m not so inspired by the price tags. Consequently, I love finding and creating beautiful budget-friendly home decor items. In a head to head competition, I bet you’d never know the difference between the designer items and my DIY creations! Many of my DIY projects focus on sewing, crafting, upcycling and organizing. Some of my favorite projects have been making pretty wreaths, sewing my own tassel hand towels, and crafting these trendy wood bead garlands. I can’t wait to inspire you and spark your creativity through my DIY projects.

You can always connect with me on Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram.

March 25, 2020/1 Comment/by Karen Decor Hint

arts and craft, autumn fall decor, Crafts, decor, Decorating, DIY, Holiday decorating, Home Decor, Tutorial, wreath

DIY Simple Fall Wreath for Less than $10

Hi everyone! Happy Fall!

Today I’m back with this super simple wreath idea that will cost you less than $10 all in! It includes using an inexpensive starburst twig wreath from Amazon and some cattail bunches that I picked up at Dollar Tree for a buck each.

I happened to see this twig wreath from Amazon and it was only $7. I knew I wanted to make a Fall wreath with it. That’s what started this whole project! The nice thing about using twig wreaths is that they help to “fill out” your wreath. You don’t need as many floral/greenery accessories because the twigs add bulk.

I love making wreaths. It’s one of my favorite crafts. Lately, I’ve gravitated toward very simplistic, almost minimalistic looking, wreaths. And that’s how I wanted to design this one.

The cattails add a nice pop of color.

Let’s get started!

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Twig wreath
Cattails or other Dollar Store Florals
Floral Wire
Wire cutters

Instructions:

Follow these three simple steps to creating your Fall wreath.

Step 1: Cut off Individual Cattails.

Since my cattails came in bunches, I started off by snipping each individual cattail from the stems. I left a bit of a stem on each one.

Step 2: Use floral wire to attach Cattails to your Wreath Form.

Using small pieces of floral wire, attach your cattails to your wreath form. You can twist the wire in the back to secure each cattail. I wanted my cattails to follow the twisted pattern of the wreath.

You can also try inserting the cattails through the twig wreath wire. Just be careful not to loosen or break the twigs from the wreath.

Step 3: Hang up and enjoy it!

After all your cattails are attached, you just need to hang up and enjoy it!

I like to use a 3m wreath hanger to hang them on my front door. If you have a glass door, you can buy a suction door wreath hanger that comes with a little hook.

These wreath hangers allow me to hang it anywhere on the front door and not block the windows. I like to hang my wreaths directly under our new lion doorknocker.

But you can also hang your wreath indoors. I especially love using wreaths for jazzing up an interior door or wall and I love hanging one from our kitchen vent hood around the holidays.

You don’t have to spend a lot to add some Fall Decor to your home. Dollar Stores are a great place to pick up a few florals and keep the cost low. You can always reuse the twig wreaths too!

For more wreath ideas, check out this modern hoop wreath tutorial here.

Until next time!

~ See More of Karen’s Tutorials ~

Hello! I’m Karen, the creator of the Home Decor and DIY Blog: Decor Hint. I’m a Native of the East Coast, but I currently live in beautiful Seattle with my hubby, our two wonderful children, and our spunky wheaten terrier.

You can usually find me with some sort of craft in one hand and a coffee in the other. And I’m always rearranging furniture or moving lamps from room to room. I have a passion (read: obsession) for decorating, DIY, and gardening. In short, I love making my house into a home.

Like many, I’m inspired by what I see in home decor magazines, but I’m not so inspired by the price tags. Consequently, I love finding and creating beautiful budget-friendly home decor items. In a head to head competition, I bet you’d never know the difference between the designer items and my DIY creations! Many of my DIY projects focus on sewing, crafting, upcycling and organizing. Some of my favorite projects have been making pretty wreaths, sewing my own tassel hand towels, and crafting these trendy wood bead garlands. I can’t wait to inspire you and spark your creativity through my DIY projects.

You can always connect with me on Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram.

October 23, 2019/0 Comments/by Karen Decor Hint