Building a Grape Vine Wreath

This time of year always gets my crafty side twitching. With so many holiday decor items to create, the level of exterior and interior decoration is really unmatched by any other season. One of my favourite things to create are Holiday Wreaths. Often I will use all natural boughs but recently I’ve developed an affinity for grape vine wreaths with artificial boughs as their shelf life will extend well beyond a single season. Don’t get me wrong nothing beats an evergreen wreath with it’s gorgeous fragrance and vibrant greens, but hey a girl’s gotta switch it up right?
So the first thing to buy is a grape vine wreath – Ridgeview has several sizes available 11” for $9.99, 14” for $12.99 & 17” for $16.99. I find the bigger the better for maximum impact.
Then it’s time to get together the various layers of decor & artificial boughs for your wreath. I must admit I have a technique that’s always served me well without breaking the bank. Go to the Dollar store and check out their floral department, around this time of year they have a TON of festive floral and at $1.25 – $2.00 the prices are great! Pro-tip; check out a few different types of dollar stores, Dollarama, Dollar Plus, Dollar Tree, they all have different stock. Buy the bulk of your wreath decor from these stores, it will keep your costs way down. Now admittedly, if it’s ALL dollar store stuff it can start to look a little cheap so I recommend purchasing a few key pieces from Ridgeview or another craft store that will serve as the focal point of your wreath. In my case I used more expensive silk poinsettias, a few holly branches and a burlap bow.

Once you have all your materials begin to layer them over top of the wreath in a C formation with the balance weighted heavily to the left. Start with branches & boughs – the filler pieces which will create the bulk of the wreath. Next place your expensive focal floral or bow, this should be a large, heavy visually dominant piece that provides an accent colour and can help establish theme for the rest of your design. Finally fill any empty or “weak” areas with smaller bling, floral or Christmas balls. Use your green craft wire or even a hot glue gun to attach each piece securely to the grape vine.
This process can be tough on the hands so you will want to employ a pair of wire snips to cut the artificial boughs and some needle nose pliers for pulling craft wire tight around each branch.
When done you can end up with something that looks like this

Good luck and we look forward to seeing your creations!