How to Make a Dried Flower Wreath

Most people think of wreaths only at Christmas. By using dried flowers, you can create a colorful wreath to hang on the front door or over your mantel. It will last for many seasons.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Ribbons
• Wire Wreath Frame
• Garden Shears
• Craft Wire

1. Gather a large grocery bag full of 6-inch-long garden trimmings. Some suggestions for foliage that dries well are magnolia, oak, cushion bush, asparagus fern and bay laurel.
2. Cut the stems from dried flowers so you have 6-inch-long prepared pieces to work with. Good choices of dried flowers are lavender, hydrangea, sea foam statice, and straw flowers.
3. Use a wire wreath frame or make your own from a wire coat hanger. Simply unbend a coat hanger into the shape of a circle; use the hook to hang your wreath when you are finished.
4. Attach #24 floral wire (sometimes called paddle wire) anywhere along the wire wreath frame.
5. Select several stems of the 6-inch foliage pieces and place them together in a bunch, with the cut ends facing the same direction.
6. Lay a few dried flowers on top of the bundle of foliage.
7. Place the bundle on top of the frame where the floral wire is connected.
8. Hold the bundle in place and wrap the floral wire around the bundle and frame. You will need two hands for this, one to hold the bundle in place against the frame, and the other to wrap the wire.
9. Wrap the floral wire around the bundle twice and then pull it tight. Make sure to leave the wire attached to the frame, because you have a long way to go.
10. Gather another bundle of foliage and flowers and lay it so that the leaves overlap with the first bunch and cover the cut ends. Make sure that the stems on both bunches are facing the same direction.
11. Continue overlapping the bunches of foliage and flowers and wiring them to the frame until you complete the circle.
12. Lift the first bundle that you wired onto the frame and tuck the last one under it.
13. Twist the wire tightly around the last bundle, and knot the wire on the frame, leaving 1 inch of wire to hang the finished wreath.
14. Cut the wire with scissors or pruning shears when you are finished.

Tips & Warnings

• Once the foliage dries, spray the finished wreath with extra-firm-hold hair spray.
• Tie a colorful bow over the area where you started and ended the wreath.
• This is a messy job! Work over newspaper or a drop cloth.