Decorating Your Home For Christmas With Wreaths Outside

We explain how to make a Christmas wreath using four different methods. Choose from:

a basic step-by-step guide for a fresh winter foliage Christmas wreath
a mistletoe Christmas wreath
a herb Christmas wreath
a fabric wreath, for something that will last

Look out for foliage and interesting natural finds – grasses, teasels and seed heads – to work into a wreath from around September onwards. Holly, ivy, spiky evergreen yew or spruce, rosemary, pine box and privet and other softer evergreen foliage also work well as fillers for creating the bulk of the wreath.

Fruits such as rosehips, berries, crab apples, spindle berries, callicarpa and sloe are perfect for adding colour, as well as deciduous garden shrubs like dogwoods. Try to find bare twigs with pretty lichens or buds like ash and beech and early hazel catkins that form before Christmas. The more variety, texture and colour you can include, the more distinctive your wreath will be.

Trimmings from Christmas trees, shop-bought herbs such as rosemary or a bunch of greenery from a florist can all be incorporated if wild gatherings are not to hand.

Alun Callender

How to make a Christmas wreath with fresh winter foliage

You will need:

A wreath base (35cm-diameter, wire or rattan, see below)
60cm thick garden twine, to hang
Wild evergreen foliage
Dried seed heads such as old man's beard and cow parsley
Hazel twigs with catkins
Fir cones
Florist's wire
Garden scissors or secateurs

Alun Callender

Use several handfuls of tree ivy to cover the base. Snip the stem at an angle into short sections, removing any leaves at the stalk end. Attach to the base using wire, starting on the outside and working into the middle.
When the base is hidden, start to add interesting leaves and twigs. Prepare these in the same way as the ivy and attached with wire: arranging in groups of three or five around the wreath works well.
Use woody stems first, building up to lighter, frothier details such as old man's beard and cow parsley seed heads.
Bind together little bundles of softer materials with florist's wire and attach.
Spike crab apples with a length of wire and twist it behind them before attaching to the base.
Hang up the wreath at intervals to check it looks balanced. Fill in any gaps and finish with berries and hips.
Spritz with water to keep it fresh.

Make your own Christmas wreath

Christmas foliage bundle

SallyWelchFlowers etsy.com

US$12.50

Christmas Wreath Making Kit

TrufflerKerfuffler etsy.com

US$11.00

Eucalyptus and Fir Christmas wreath kit

TheFoliageProject etsy.com

US$32.50

Wreath Making Kit with Dried Flowers

FlorenceAndFlowers etsy.com

US$36.48

Wreath kit with foliage

SallyWelchFlowers etsy.com

US$22.50

Rattan Wreath

PetalsCraft etsy.com

US$9.97

How to make a Christmas wreath with herbs and greenery

Nassima Rothacker

A willow wreath interwoven with herbs and greenery will make a striking statement.

How to make a Christmas wreath with mistletoe

Brent Darby Photography LTD

Create a delicate decoration by arranging sprigs around a wire wreath ring. Secure with fine green florist wire, working around the frame in a clockwise fashion. String mini baubles in the centre and hang with lengths of vibrant ribbon.

How to make a Christmas wreath with fabric

If you'd like to get more crafty when it comes to your wreath and want something that will last longer, try this fabric wreath design. This pretty fabric wreath looks lovely on a door or inside wall, or displayed as a table centrepiece.

Buy a wicker base (see options above) to decorate or make your own from fabric. Small decorations, such as glossy beads, artificial berries or tiny baubles saved from crackers, bring Christmas sparkle.

Alun Callender

You will need for the base:

2 x 30cm-35cm square pieces of felt, blanket or upholstery fabric
one small and one large plate
tailor's chalk
pins
sewing machine
polyester stuffing
long-handled wooden spoon
needle, thread and scissors

You will need to decorate:

ribbon or braid
needle and thread
hot-glue gun or fabric glue
felt, blanket or upholstery fabric in
different colours and shades
scissors and pins
mini baubles, artificial berries and beads
short length of ribbon for hanging

First, make your base by drawing around a 30cm-35cm dinner plate twice with chalk to mark circles onto the right side of your fabrics. Inside these, outline a smaller circle
by repeating the process with a side plate.
Place the fabric rings wrong sides together and pin in place. Use running stitch to sew
all around the inner circle and most of the outer circle, removing the pins as you go.
Trim any excess fabric ½cm from the chalk line around the edge of the outer and inner circles (there will be a small 'frill'). Use a long-handled wooden spoon to help pack the stuffing tightly and evenly inside the ring.
Hand-sew the last section of the ring shut.
Now your wreath is ready to decorate. Wrap pretty ribbon tightly around it, at intervals of about 3cm, and sew or glue in place where the ends meet at the back.
Cut out leaf, holly and ivy shapes – you will need around 100 single ones. Sew in stacks of three for a fuller look.
Pin the leaves to your wreath, tucking the stalk ends underneath the ribbon, until it is completely covered. Now sew or glue them in place, removing the pins as you go.
Repeat with your beads, baubles or reclaimed decorations, then sew a short loop of ribbon onto the back and hang.

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