Plastic-Free Christmas Wreath Tutorial

Another week, another wreath! This weekend we started to decorate the house for Christmas. I say we – Mr R helped me move the bookcase then went out to buy a part for the car, and Holly helped put the baubles on the tree the decided to do some crafts. With glitter. Eugh. I put the tree up, made a mantelpiece garland, a staircase garland and two door wreaths. Here’s my (pretty basic) plastic-free Christmas Wreath Tutorial – it’s so easy to make!

To start with, you’ll need a pair of scissors or secateurs, wire cutters (or use your scissors if you don’t mind potentially ruining them), a roll of florists binding wire and a wreath base. You can buy metal rings but I used some old birch twigs that I’d previously made into a wreath. These were really manky as they’d been in the shed for a couple of years! They still worked as a base though and are all natural. You’ll also need some moss which forms the base layer of the wreath. I used some leftover moss from last year – I accidentally bought a lifetime’s supply from a florist friend to make my wreaths last year, and didn’t realise it came in humongous bags! Luckily for me it’s been absolutely fine stored in our cellar, so I didn’t have to buy any more.

I went on a bit of a forage in the garden and hacked down some ivy (leaves and flowers), cut some rosemary, eucalyptus and twisted willow. I’d previously acquired some offcuts of the village Christmas tree (with permission!) and I used these as the base layer on the wreath.

So, the first step is to shake out the spiders from your twig wreath (if you’re me). Then, we need to make a base of moss on the wreath. Tie one end of your florist binding wire to the wreath ring. Grab a small clump of moss and wrap the florist wire around it and the wreath ring once or twice. This will secure the moss. Grab some more moss and repeat the whole thing until your wreath is totally covered with moss. You’ve now got a base!

The next job is to put your base foliage on. I used the Christmas tree bits and cut them into approximately 20-30cm sections. I bunched them together and bound them to the moss covered ring using the binding wire in exactly the same way as I attached the moss. After I’d put the first one on, I overlaid the second one covering up the cut edges of the first one. I carried on around the wreath like this, until I got to the end and then I tucked the last section under the first, so you can’t see the beginning.

Then it’s the fun bit! You can use anything to decorate your wreath, but I used the bits from the garden for this one. I wrapped the lengths of ivy around the wreath and used the existing bits of wire to tuck the ends into to secure. Then I cut approximately 10-15cm sections of eucalyptus and tucked these into the wire, together with ivy flowers, rosemary and some of the twisted willow bits for a bit of texture.

I have attached it to the door using ribbon. I make a loop with the ribbon and wrap it around the wreath. The ribbon is draped over the top of the door as I have a nail on the inside of the door to hang the wreath from.

I love the different tones of green in this wreath, but have made one for the back door using the same technique but included some hawthorn berries for a splash of colour.

I hope this tutorial was useful! If you make a wreath, I’d love to see. You can tag me in your picture on Instagram @life_with_holly.

Happy crafting! x

For more thrifty Christmas tips, check out my post on how to save money at Christmas.