Pine Wreath from Scratch

Not having access to a Michael's or a TJMaxx, I got to (read: was forced to) explore the non-artistic side of me today. The girls are at that age where they love, love, love to stare at the white blinking lights on the fake tiny Charlie Brown tree we bought here last year. In an effort to make the house more festive, I decided to tackle making a pine wreath.

Trust me when I tell you that I've never made a wreath before, so this was an experiment for me. And if I can do it, so can you, should you be so inclined.

First I bent a wire hanger until it resembled a circle of sorts, making sure to keep the hook intact. That'll come in handy later when it's time to hang it-- that is if it makes it that far.

Next I ventured into the snowy yard and clipped a big bunch of pine branches.

Not knowing what I was doing, I sorted them by size, figuring that there must be some scientific approach to wreath making.

I dug through our pantry and found some floral tape I bought before we moved here. I didn't know why I bought it at the time since I've never wrapped a flower stem in my life. But I will say that I felt pretty accomplished when I not only found it, but found a good use for it.

I began to take the smaller branches and bundle them together, with the darker green side facing up. These branches were pretty fan-like so I laid them flat, trying to space them so that there weren't any gaps. When I felt like I had a significant bunch, I wrapped the stems in the floral tape.

Then I trimmed the stem bottoms to equal lengths and used more floral tape to attach to the hanger.

Thin gauged wire would have worked better to keep it more secure, but I did come across another solution: twisties! After I attached a bunch with the tape, I then used a twisty to make it even more secure. This is the back side.

Keep repeating this process until you've completed the entire circle, and if you are lucky enough like me, you'll have one of these!

And the best thing, when Sparkly Girl #2 came home from school, it was the first thing she noticed. She gasped, "Oh, Mommy, look! It's so beautiful!". Then she turned to me and asked, "What is it?".

"It's Christmas in Dushanbe", I replied.