Autumn wreath making – free DIY tutorial by Caroline Grimble, floral stylist at Bloom & Wild.
Thanks to Caroline for sharing her simple, seasonal guide to help you decorate your door beautifully and bring you simple, seasonal joy in the process.
The joy of wreathmaking at this time of years is nature’s seasonal palette of warm reds, yellows and oranges. Even if you’ve never made an Autumn wreath before, these easy expert tips and step by steps will show you how. So why not start gathering some ingredients – whilst out walking perhaps? Look for leaves, flowers and foliage that will dry well so your wreath lasts (see below for Caroline’s suggestions).
Autumn wreath DIY: what you’ll need
- Flowers
- Foliage
- Wreath ring (Caroline recommends using a vine or wicker wreath ring for a more natural look.)
- Wire
- Scissors
Step by steps
1 Gather fresh foliage and flowers that dry well
Suggestions (foliage):
- Oak leaves
- Eucalypytus
- Rosemary
- Wheat
- Chasmanthium grass
- Corn
- Grasses
Suggestions (flowers):
- Hydrangea
- Strawflower
- Red roses
- Poppy heads
- Sea lavender (statice)
- Pinks (dianthus)
- Baby’s breath
- Amaranthus
- Dried nigella
Tip: Recycle your flowers! Dried wreaths are the perfect way to give a new life to cut flowers. You can dry the flowers and foliage from a dying bouquet, the easiest way is to hang them upside down in a dark and dry storage room. Dried flowers can add a nice touch to autumn wreaths, but they’re delicate so add them at the end to fill any gaps.
Step 2 Prep your flowers
Cut the flower & foliage stems and keep them about 8-15 cm long. Lay them in groups of 2 to 3 stems, staggering down, so the tips lay slightly below each other.
Step 3 Start making your wreath
With your chosen foliage stems, gather little bunches of foliage together and attach them with wire. Snipping the foliage down to lengths of between approximately 15 to 20 cm.
Step 4 Add your foliage
Feed the wire through the frame and secure. Then lie your first bunch of foliage on the mossed or vine ring and wrap the wire tightly around the bunch and frame. Make up another foliage bunch and lay it so it covers the stems of the previous bunch, wire over the stems as before. Work down in a zigzag formation so you have full coverage.
Step 5 Add the flowers
This is the right time to add any flowers you might have. These can just be inserted into the ring and are perfect for brightening up and filling in any gaps in the composition.
Step 6 Hang your Autumn wreath
Finally, add your hanging ribbon or twine. A thin ribbon looks best when attached to the frame at the back, while a larger one can be wrapped around the top of your wreath and secured with an oversized bow. Both ribbon options are excellent choices, with the thin one letting your foliage and flower do the talking and the large one adding a clear focal point to the composition.
If you’re looking for other Autumn flower ideas, you might like to read these other posts:
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