When I think of Christmas wreaths I tend to think of evergreen boughs with ribbons and pinecones. They are the ones I buy almost every year and every year I think how I really could make my own. I went looking for homemade wreaths and I found that many of you already make your own. What really surprised me was how I fell in love with these 10 less traditional wreaths. There will always be a place for evergreen boughs, but I may need to work one of these wreaths into my holiday decor.
When Lucy posted her duster Christmas wreath she asked if it was brilliant or crazy. I'm totally saying brilliant. It looks soft and fluffy. Don't you just want to reach out and touch it?
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You don't have to turn to greenery to add a touch of nature to your wreaths. KariAnne took a pile of twigs and turned them into a pretty winter white twig wreath. She added in some small pinecones and a subdued ribbon but some red berries and a bold red ribbon would really pop.
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Making your own wreath doesn't need to involve buying a lot of supplies. Use what you have or what you can find outdoors. Diana was in her yard when she realized she could take some clippings and make a fabulous boxwood wreath.
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We were recently shopping in a craft store when my husband looked around at everything and said, "Wow! Crafts can get expensive really fast, can't they?" Yes, they can but inexpensive homemade wreaths can look positively stunning. I love Megan's practically free pinecone wreath. If you can gather your own pinecones and have a wire hanger, this will cost you next to nothing and and it's absolutely lovely.
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When I saw Sherry's frost fairy wreath I thought of all my friends with fairy gardens. While it's certainly not on the same size scale as their gardens, is does have that same touch of whimsy. It you want a wreath that can take you through the holidays and beyond, this a great choice.
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Not every wreath has to be a circle. They can be squares, stars, and yes, even initials. I've seen peppermint wreaths before but I really like Chelsea's peppermint monogram wreath. It will only take you about an hour to make but it will look like you spent much, much longer on it.
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Yes, this wreath does use traditional greenery but I love how Jen put a personal twist on it and made it a steampunk wreath. She took some of her favorite small steampunk items and made them work in her wreath. If steampunk isn't your thing, take a look at the collections you have around the house and find what works for you.
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One of the things I love about yarn wreaths is that you can use yarn you already you have, change the width of the bands and add as many or as few sparkly ornaments to it as suits your holiday theme. If you make yours like Violet and use thread instead of glue, when you want to change things up you can just unwind everything and start over with new yarn.
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This is another yarn wrapped method but Aimee's tufted wool wreath looks very different from the previous one. She was inspired by an Anthropologie wreath. I love her version and this is one of those time where I think the homemade version is better than the original.
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I saved what might be my favorite wreath for last. Heather's jeweled mini Christmas wreath is stunning. Heather used necklace pendants but I think broaches would work equally well and I'm always finding broaches in thrift stores. These would make excellent gifts for the sparkly-loving people on your list.
What kind of wreath are you making for the holidays?
Be sure to check out the rest of the posts in our 12 days of Holiday Crafts series.
Karen Ballum is a Community Moderator on BlogHer.com. She also blogs at Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.