Like most of you, I have spent a lot of time at home this year. This lifestyle change gave me the opportunity to discover and try new things, and in the process of doing so, I have found myself a new hobby – wreath making. I’m excited to share my new-found skills and tips with you in this Candy Cane Christmas Wreath craft project.
As you know, I have always been an avid DIY home decorator and crafter, especially when it comes to Christmas decorating, and so I was eager to explore and experiment with this new-found facet of Christmas craft. As someone with a love of all things Christmas and all things craft, it was a natural progression. Inspired by all the gorgeously decorated wreaths I was seeing on Pinterest, I started dabbling a little on my own and then it got to the point where I was enjoying it so much and I wanted to learn even more, that I have joined an online course out of the United States. The United States is one place in particular that has a huge amount of amazingly talented wreath decorators – both professionals and hobbyists alike – and it seemed like the perfect place to begin.
I don’t claim to be an expert by any means, but I had such fun creating these Candy Cane Christmas inspired wreaths that I couldn’t wait to share what I have learnt with you. I hope these tips and tricks inspire you to give wreath making a go in your own home and bring a little hand-crafted festive spirit to your Christmas décor.
Using our selection of Candy Cane Christmas decorations and embellishments you are able to create a number of variations in this particular style. Throughout the process we’ll share what we have used and provide some alternative suggestions to give you some inspiration and direction.
Selecting and Preparing Your Wreath Base
The first thing to do is to decide on the wreath base that you are going to use. For maximum impact in this particular project we suggest using our Lush Full Evergreen Mixed Pine Wreath. You could also choose to use a natural grapevine, gold metal or wire wreath for your DIY Christmas wreath project.
- Once you’ve chosen your wreath base, unpack it and give it a “zhuzh” to make it look full and give it dimension. This means to fluff and separate the individual fronds of foliage in order to let all the texture and fullness of the greenery come forth and shine.
Depending on how you choose to secure your items to the wreath base, you’ll likely need to have handy a selection of hot glue gun, florist wire and/or pipe cleaners. Hot glue guns are great for secure and permanent placement, whereas wire provides the option for you to remove, re-position and replace items to refresh and re-use your wreath year after year.
Fascinate with Focal Points
Once you’ve suitably zhuzhed your luscious green base it’s time to select and place your focal point/s. Having defined focal points (also known as feature points) is an important part of successful wreath decoration. You want to aim for one or two focal points to really stand out on your wreath and then all other pieces and embellishments should support those feature pieces.
Too many focal points and your wreath will look busy and over-crowded. And too little, or no, focal points and it will lack attention to detail and impact.
The other important thing to consider when it comes to decorating your wreath, and positioning the focal points, is balance. Be sure position the focal points opposite each other to achieve a balanced visual aesthetic.
- Decide on the items you will use as your focal points and where you will position them on your wreath base.
We have chosen to use a large bow we’ve made from a selection of wired ribbon and a circular sign that we’ve made using our “Jingle All the Way” FREE Printable Download and positioned them opposite each other at 10 and 4 on the wreath base.
You could also choose from our selection of bright and colourful Christmas signs to use as your focal point/s.
Add Colour, Texture and Interest with Plenty of Embellishments
With your key focal points in place, it’s time to embellish, embellish, embellish to really bring your creation to life.
- Choose your embellishments and add them to your wreath.
There’s so many ways that you can embellish your wreath. For maximum impact, it’s best to choose items with a variety of textures, colours and finishes. This might include baubles, picks, ribbons and other decorations.
For this Candy Cane Christmas Wreath, we’ve used the following:
- A wreath pick set – (positioned at 3 and 5) to further enhance the plaque or sign. All of our pick sets are supplied pre-wired so they can easily be attached to your wreath base.
- Ribbon streamers – we made these with a selection of wired ribbons. Here’s how you can do it too.
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- Cut 30cm lengths of wired ribbon.
- Dovetail the ends of each length by folding the ribbon in half and snipping diagonally from the centre edge to the wired edge.
- Put 2 contrasting ribbons together and pinch in the middle to create a bow tie and position on the wreath.
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- Hold the streamers in place by twisting the needles of the evergreen wreath across the top of the ribbon arrangement.
- Repeat this process to position all of your streamer pairs around the wreath base.
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N.B: We used approx. 24 ribbon streamers (12 x pairs) on this particular wreath so you would need around 7.2 metres of ribbon for the streamers. You’ll need to allow more if you are creating a large bow for one of your focal points like we did.
- Other high impact embellishments you could use include brightly coloured baubles, picks and decorations in various textures and finishes. We’ve used:
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- 2 x Peppermint Lolly Tree Picks (1 x red and 1 x white),
- 1 x White Glitter Berry Spray,
- 1 x Red Glitter Christmas Ball Trio Pick, and
- A combination of red, white and green baubles in a selection of sizes and finishes.
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You can carefully deconstruct Christmas Tree picks with wire cutters to separate the individual pieces. This allows you to spread them around and throughout the wreath as required to make them work best for your individual wreath. Wire them in using the attached wire from the original product or use additional florist wire as needed. You might also choose to use hot glue to secure certain pieces. Keep in mind that wire allows you to swap your embellishments out at a later time and glue will give a more permanent result.
You could also use any of our delightful and fun Christmas tree decorations, tree picks and sprays, all especially selected to suit this playful Candy Cane Christmas theme.
And there you have it! A bright, colourful wreath full of fun and festive cheer that you created all on your own. Of course, these instructions are only a guide. The beauty of wreath-making is that once you have understood the basic principles you can apply them to create wreaths to suit any decorating style or colour theme.
We’ve got plenty of inspiration for other wreath making and decorating ideas. Check out Deck the Halls with a DIY Christmas Wreath and The Many Ways to Decorate Your Christmas Wreath for ideas on decorating wreaths for other Christmas styles as well as ways to hang and display your DIY wreath creations.
The Christmas Cart has everything you need to create your very own DIY Christmas wreath – from wreath bases, ribbons, pick, plaques and a variety of decorations and embellishments. Visit our online store, fill your cart and get ready to feel the festive spirit with some Christmas craft.
If you’re loving the Candy Cane Christmas theme and want to find more inspiration and decorating ideas to fill your home, have a look at Candy Cane Christmas Decorating on our blog and visit our Candy Cane Christmas Inspiration Gallery page. There’s a video to watch, a lookbook to explore and a FREE Christmas Printable to get you started.