*Anti-AI promise: At Academy Florist we are steadfast in our dislike of AI (especially generative AI) and can promise that we are making a conscious effort to never use it on our website, in journal posts, or on social media. This journal post was written by a human, Kyla, and all grammatical errors can be attributed to her.*

Wreaths are one of our favourite holiday traditions! They are long lasting and have so much design potential with all of the different shapes, styles, foliage variety, and decor options available. They’re also relatively easy to make for beginners (especially if you’re buying a fully greened wreath and adding your own touches to it) and always come out looking cute even when they’re imperfect. Read on to learn the basic steps to make your own beautiful winter wreath at home.

At this point you’ve either attended a wreath workshop, or you probably don't plan to! Here is a quick tutorial if you want a refresher or if you want to try it for yourself:

You will need a sturdy base for your wreath. We typically use sturdy metal or grapevine wreath bases, but we sometimes use large flexible wire, sticks, or anything in a circular shape. You can even use a stretched out metal coat hanger. The goal is to have a base that holds its circular shape while you attach greenery to it. We also offer pre-greened wreath bases, which are great if you just want to customize the decor to match your aesthetic.

If designing a wreath from scratch, you will also need paddle wire, or some sort of strong string/twine to wrap the pieces of greenery with. Wire is the preferred method as you can pull it hard without it snapping, and it holds onto the materials well. We recommend using gauge 26 as it’s thin enough to work with but not thin enough to break. It can be found at most craft stores.

Other tools you will require:

• Florist clippers (like these) to cut your greenery into workable pieces
• Gloves to protect your hands from the needles and sap
• Wire cutters to cut your paddle wire
• Hot glue or florist glue to attach decor
• Sharp scissors to cut ribbon (if using)

Your ingredients are important to consider when designing your wreath. If you want it full of lush greenery, we recommend using hardy winter greens such as fir, pine, and cedar. They can either be mixed together for a traditional look (this is what our pre-made wreaths consist of), or you can use one variety for a more minimal look. If you’re hanging your wreath indoors, we recommend only using cedar or a greenery that doesn’t have needles (such as pine and fir) as when they dry out their needles will drop. We also like to add in non-traditional greenery such as oregonia, which adds a different texture and colour to the mix.

Aside from your greenery, you can add all sorts of decor to make the design yours. We like using natural items such as pinecones, dried orange slices, moss, dried flowers, and sticks. For those that want a bit more sparkle, we also offer glass ornaments that can be wired or glued into the greenery. We also love adding a bow, large or small, to complete the wreath, but it’s not a must. Even a simple wreath with no decor still looks beautiful!

We also love wreaths made from materials that aren’t greenery, such as this dried yarrow wreath that went viral a few years ago.

Now for the tutorial! Please keep in mind that this begins the process from scratch. If you have purchased a pre-greened wreath, skip to step three.

Once you’ve gathered all of your tools and ingredients, it’s time to design. Make sure you give yourself enough room to spread out, and know that it WILL make a mess, so put down newspaper on a table or counter, as well as on the floor. Floristry is dirty work after all!

For efficiency's sake, we like to pre-cut the pieces of greenery we plan on using so that we don’t need to continually stop what we’re doing to cut more. We like to use pieces roughly the length and size of a hand, but it really depends on what size you want your finished piece to be. The larger the pieces, the more wild and large, and smaller pieces of greenery will make your wreath more dense and potentially smaller. You can also play around with different sizes of bases with different sizes of greenery pieces.

Take the paddle wire and securely wrap the end around a point on your base several times. Give it a few tugs to make sure it won’t come undone as you’re designing.

When you’re sure the wire is secure, take a few pieces of greenery and arrange them in your hand in a bunch with all stems ending at roughly the same spot. This is where you are going to attach the bundle to the frame. While holding the pieces in your non-dominant hand against the base, use your other hand to firmly wrap the wire around the pieces several times. You want to pull tight enough so that they don’t slip out, but not too tight that you break or slice through the greenery.

Then you’re going to repeat this process with another bundle of greens on top but slightly overlapping the bottom of those first pieces. You will do this all around the base, until you’ve completed the circle.

The end of the circle can be a bit tricky to finish, but do your best to maneuver the wire around the top of the first bundle so that the last pieces are still tied on securely like the rest. Cut your wire and secure the end by wrapping it around the base (more accessible by flipping the wreath over) and threading through the end so no one gets stabbed later (trust us, it hurts).

If you’re planning on adding accents to your wreath, decide what the top of the wreath will be so you have a point to start, and then get creative! You can either use wire or string to attach items such as pinecones, bells, and bows (like we do at the shop) or use hot glue to attach decor such as orange slices, dried flowers, or other ornaments. Tying a bow ahead of time and then attaching it after with wire or glue will help keep it from getting wonky.

You can either make a wire loop on the back of your wreath, or simply place the back of the base onto a hook or nail. If you’re hanging the wreath on a door, you can also use a wreath hanger which are available at most craft stores.

If you need some inspiration, here are a few examples of wreaths we’ve designed over the years that are all different but beautiful in their own way.

We also make custom wreaths so if you’re looking for something beautiful without the work, check out our options here or contact us if you have a vision in mind.

If you make a wreath this season, be sure to tag us on socials so we can see your design!