We're well and truly into Autumn now as almost all the leaves have turned orange, red and brown and look amazing in the low afternoon sunlight and it is definitely starting to get chilly too. I think it is such a shame that most of us don't decorate our homes for this time of year but I just couldn't wait until Christmas to hang a wreath on my front door. Autumn is my favourite season so this I've decided to embrace it into my home as well. I've got lots of inspiration from Pinterest, I'm not sure if it is because American's celebrate Halloween more than we do, or because Thanksgiving takes places in the Fall, or if they are just more festive but their seasonal decor is so on point. Harry and I took a trip out for a walk in the woods and I grabbed handfuls of the fallen leaves to bring home with me for all sorts of crafts.
I tried to make my wreath as simple as possible and tried not to buy to many ready-made embellishments (of which there are tons) so that I could make it on a budget. This tutorial is very easy and you can really use what you like, what you can forage or what you have to hand but to make one like mine here's what you'll need:
- Any Size Grapevine/Rattan Wreath (I bought a small one in Hobbycraft for £1.50)
- Burlap or Hessian Ribbon (I bought a 2m roll in Hobbycraft for £3.00)
- Handful of Autumn leaves
- An Orange
- A sharp knife
- Scissors
- A glue gun
- Mod Podge + A Brush To Apply It
- Any Other Embellishments (I used foil Mickey shapes I saved from my trip to Disney)
- The first thing you'll need to do is dry out your orange slices as these will take the longest to prepare. Start by preheating your oven to 100ºC (or slightly lower if you have a fan oven) then slice your orange into equal sized rounds, try not to make them too thin or too thick.
- Lay the slices directly onto your oven shelf and leave them to dry for two hours, turning halfway through. If your orange slice aren't quite dry you can leave them in the oven for longer or turn the oven off and leave them inside to dry out over night. Be careful not to turn your oven up to high as this will cause the slices to burn (like my first batch!).
- Next you'll need to prepare and preserve your leaves by covering them with a thin layer of mod podge on one side, leave them to dry, and then to the same to the opposite side.
- To create your wreath start by tucking the end of your burlap ribbon under one of the vines in the centre of the wreath and start to wrap it around one half of the wreath, letting the roll of ribbon unfurl as you go. Once you have reached the opposite centre, cut your ribbon and tuck the end again, make sure each end of the ribbon is tucked at, what will be, the back of the wreath.
- Next layer your leaves on top of the ribbon, keeping them in place by tucking the stalks under the vines and doing the same with the tips of the leaves where necessary. Take your time to make sure all the leaves are secure.
- Now set up your glue gun and, while waiting for it to heat up, arrange your orange slices on top of the leaves. I put my biggest slices in the middle with smaller slices either side. Once your glue is ready carefully glue your orange slices down. You can also add any extra embellishments at this point.
- Finally, use your remaining burlap ribbon to make a bow and use your glue gun to secure it to the bottom of your wreath.
- You should know check to see if there are any elements of the wreath that are not secure and use your glue gun to help them stay in place. Try not to glue them to the vines themselves if possible.
Here is my finished wreath! I will also use a little bit more burlap ribbon to secure it to the knocker on my front door but for now I have hung it on an over the door hook just to show you what it looks like. As you can see I chose an asymmetric design and I concentrated the orange slices on the bottom half so that the beautiful leaves could stick out at the top. I also added some little hidden Mickey's to add some interest and a bit of sparkle.
You might be wondering why I chose to 'tuck' both the ribbon and the leaves instead of gluing them straight on, and the simple reason for this is that I want my wreath to be re-usable! By using the glue sparingly it means I can change elements more easily and I won't have to go out and by a new wreath. If I get the chance I am definitely going to update my wreath with some new embellishments (mostly holly!) once Christmas hits. For now though I hope you like this tutorial and do let me know if you decide to make a wreath for yourself! I am so so proud of mine, and it really was so easy to do!
You might be wondering why I chose to 'tuck' both the ribbon and the leaves instead of gluing them straight on, and the simple reason for this is that I want my wreath to be re-usable! By using the glue sparingly it means I can change elements more easily and I won't have to go out and by a new wreath. If I get the chance I am definitely going to update my wreath with some new embellishments (mostly holly!) once Christmas hits. For now though I hope you like this tutorial and do let me know if you decide to make a wreath for yourself! I am so so proud of mine, and it really was so easy to do!
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