Things You'll Need
Pruning shears
Wet foam wreath form
Christmas ribbon
Fresh evergreens
Floral U hooks
Christmas bow
Wire swag form
Floral wire
Wire cutters
Welcome friends and family to your home this holiday season with a fresh evergreen wreath on your front door and fragrant evergreen swags over interior doorways. You can easily make these Christmas favorites with fresh holly, fir, juniper or pine branches and fresh magnolia leaves. Wreath forms and floral supplies are available at craft and discount stores. Christmas bows made with festive holiday ribbon add a finishing touch to your wreath and swag designs.
Wet Foam Christmas Wreath
Step 1: Prepare the Fresh Evergreens
Prepare the evergreens for the wreath or the swag by removing any dead material and trimming the pieces to size. Soak a wet foam floral wreath in water. The foam should be damp, not fully saturated.
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Step 2: Make the Ribbon Hanger
Place the wet foam wreath face up on a flat surface. Wet foam wreaths retain water and allow your fresh evergreen Christmas wreath to live longer. Cut a length of Christmas ribbon to make the hanger for the wreath. Loop the ribbon around the top of the wreath and tie the ends together in a small bow.
Step 3: Position and Clip
Position one stalk/leaf/branch of fresh evergreens on top of the wreath form, stem pointing down. You can use any type of evergreens that you like from holly branches to magnolia leaves. Insert a floral U clip over the stem and into the foam wreath form. One U clip will hold a single magnolia leaf, but heavy evergreen branches may require several U clips along the length of the branch.
Step 4: Secure the Material
Secure evergreen material around the face of the wreath with U clips, overlapping leaves and greenery to hide the stems. Tuck the stems of the last piece behind the previous piece.
Step 5: Cover Outside and Inside Edges
Repeat Steps 2 and 3 to cover the outside edge and the inside edge of the wreath form with evergreens. Position a Christmas bow on the face of the wreath. Tie the bow around the wreath, if tie-on ribbons are attached. If not, cut a 6-inch strip of floral wire and slide it halfway through the backside of the knot in the center of the bow. Bend the wire in half and insert the ends into the floral foam to hold the ribbon in place.
Step 6: Water the Wreath Daily
Water the foam wreath every few days to help preserve the evergreens.
Wire Christmas Swag
Step 1: Position the Greenery for the Evergreen Swag
Place a wire swag form face up on a flat surface. Place one piece of fresh evergreen foliage on the top of one side of the swag form. The tip of the greenery should fall beyond the right or left edge of the swag form and the stem should be on top of the wire.
Step 2: Cut and Secure the Wire
Unroll 8 inches of floral wire from the spool. Hook the end of the wire around the swag wire touching the evergreen stem. The wire is still attached to the spool and is now also attached to the wire swag form. Wrap the floral wire around the stem to secure it to the swag form.
Step 3: Layer and Fill
Layer the evergreens side-by-side and on top of each other and wire each one to the swag form. Fill each side of the swag form to make the finished Christmas swag symmetrical. Keep the wire on the roll to make the wrapping job faster, or cut the wire and wrap each piece of evergreen individually.
Step 4: Add the Bow and the Hanger
Attach a Christmas bow to the center of the swag; tie the ribbon to the wire form or make your own wire attachment. Hang the evergreen swag with a Christmas ribbon hanger.
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