Christmas Wreath Tutorial

Posted on by LEOwife

It’s December 1st! I love the Christmas season. I plan all kinds of fun things to do with the kids because we don’t have too much “little kid” time left. Breaks my heart! I finally finished decorating a few rooms in the house, but I know I’ll be adding and moving things around until the big day!

I made a red wreath for our front door last year, but it somewhat came apart in storage. I also updated the bow to match our living room Christmas theme. This wreath is so easy, and it doesn’t take much time at all. It looks just as amazing in the dark as in does in the light because I used lights to softly illuminate it from behind. You will not be disappointed if you make this beauty!

You need:

  • 12″ straw wreath
  • 2.5″ red wired ribbon (or wider)
  • battery powered string lights (Dollar Tree has them)
  • reindeer pick (I got mine from Michael’s.)
  • 1.5″ silver wired ribbon
  • scissors
  • hot glue gun and glue
  • a pipe cleaner or floral wire for the bow

Begin by wrapping the wreath with the red ribbon. Glue the beginning of the ribbon to the back of the wreath, then wrap the ribbon around the entire straw form. When you’re back where you started, cut the ribbon and hot glue the end on top of the ribbon you glued on first.

Ignore that dot of hot glue. That’s the spot where I removed the old bow.

Remove your string lights from the package and use a small screwdriver to remove the screw to expose the battery compartment. Mine took 2 AA’s. Insert your batteries and replace the back. You can either put the screw back in or leave it out. I left mine out, and the back and the batteries stay in fine.

Now you’ll start hot gluing your lights to the back of the wreath. Try to center the lights in the middle the best you can. Put a strip of glue and place the first light on it. You’ll want to press the casing of each light in the glue & not the bulb itself or the wire. Note that the bulb casing in glued in the middle, not the wire. Don’t worry, you won’t be able to see the wire from the front. Continue gluing your lights all around your wreath.

The lights went all the way around, I only had to glue one light close to another.

The battery pack will be glued on next. It is a bit heavier than the lights, so you’ll need to use extra glue. Squeeze the hot glue around the edges all the way around, and then add more glue to the center of the pack. Work quickly so the glue doesn’t begin drying before you can place it on the wreath. Press it down on the middle of the form, in between two lights. Allow it to completely dry before moving it. Last year I had mine on our front door for a month, and the lights held on perfectly.

I did add a dot of glue to hold the little loop of wires by my ring finger down.

Now begin hot gluing your reindeer pick on the back. The end of my pick was longer than I needed, but it was heavy. To make it steadier, bend the wire into a lopsided U so that you can glue two sides on. That way it won’t move around or fall off.

Here you can see the loop & the place where the old glue was. You’ll glue yours just like that.

Fine the bottom center of the wreath, then begin squeezing the glue onto it. Work quickly and use a lot of glue.

While the glue is drying you can make your bow. I made a simple bow, like you’d tie for a ribbon in your pony tail. I made two loops for each side, with a tail of about 3.5″ on each side.

Begin by making the first loop. Pinch off the 1.5″ ribbon about a quarter of an inch from the end. You need that extra ribbon to keep the bow from coming apart when you tie it off with the pipe cleaner. Pinch the loop off, then make another loop the same size next to it.

Bring the ribbon back to the center “pinch” and create another loop under your first one. Make it just a little bit bigger than your first loop so it can be seen from the front. Bring the loop to the center, pinch, and create your fourth and final loop under the second loop. Pinch that loop off in the center. Do NOT cut the ribbon off yet.

Next you’ll make the tails. Decide how long you’d like the ribbon to hang down the bottom of your wreath. I cut mine around 3.5″ (that’s an estimate, I didn’t measure it so feel free to wing it here). Still holding on to the middle, hold it up in front of you, getting a feel for how it will look. When you like the length, bring the ribbon back to the center so you have a loop on the bottom. Pinch the free end of the ribbon at the center. Have one end more toward the right and one more toward the left center of the pinch. It seems complicated to explain it in writing, but it’s very easy. You’ll get what I mean in seconds while doing it.

Leave extra ribbon just like you did at first, then twist a pipe cleaner around the middle where everything is being held. Go through the center of the loop created by the tails so that when you cut them, one will hang to the right and one to the left. If you don’t go through it, they will both want to go to one side. Twist it tightly to keep everything looking perfect.

The left 2 loops are under my left hand. Here you can see how I fed the pipe cleaner through the tail “loops.”

Use your scissors to cut the tails in the center at the bottom. That way each tail will be the same length. Cut off any extra pipe cleaner now too.

To cover the pipe cleaner in the middle of your bow, you can either cut down the same ribbon used for the bow or use a silver (or any color that would look good with your color scheme), or use 5/8″ silver ribbon. I used the latter, and mine also has tiny sliver of gold running down each side next to the silver. Put a dot of glue on the back of the bow on the pipe cleaner and press the ribbon on it. Wrap the ribbon around the bow until the pipe cleaner is covered, then add more glue & put the ribbon in it. Cut off any excess. If you use the same ribbon as your bow, cut a strip wide enough to cover the pipe cleaner, then glue it on the back.

Here’s a peak of what the wreath will look like with the lights on.

If the hot glue on the back of the wreath is dry and your lights and pick are set, turn it face up. Place some hot glue in the bottom center, at the exact spot that corresponds with where the stem of the pick is glued. Press the middle of your bow onto the hot glue.

All that’s left to do is find the perfect spot for your gorgeous Christmas wreath!

I have a red & silver color scheme going in my living room, so that’s where I hung mine. I have a gallery wall so I removed some items and hung this in their place. It’s pretty with the lights turned off and only the tree and wreath lights on. Love it!

Another option is to take down a picture you normally have up somewhere in your house and replace it with this.

Or your front door so all your neighbors can see your gorgeous wreath and wonder how much you payed for it!

Thank you so much for stopping by my friends! I’ll be trying to post everyday until Christmas. New DIYs and a decor reveal for the rooms in our house, as well as some ideas for family time and new traditions. Check out what’s new everyday!

Follow me on social media and share, share, share!

Check out my other articles while you’re here!

2 thoughts on “Christmas Wreath Tutorial”

  2. Pingback: Halloween Pumpkin Wreath Tutorial - Life as a LEO Wife

I'd love to hear what you think! Leave me a comment below!