It’s never to early to start preparing for Christmas crafting, is it? I made this a few weeks ago, but had to spend a bit of time sourcing a hook-free hanging solution.

I’ve have made a few wreaths before like this origami poinsettia wreath and this origami spring flower wreath but you don’t exactly hang these outside – they are paper flowers and will hardly weather the storm well! No, I just have them hanging indoors when the seasons change instead, but I’ve always wanted an outdoor wreath. They have to be made from more hardier materials though, like plastics.

I like to go craft shopping before every Christmas to see what sorts of sales are on – it seems sales start super early! This time, I found a DIY Christmas wreath set and I was happy to start with this as it would provide all the materials I would need. Also I just love macramé as my recent projects can attest to!

I did however find the set to be a bit lacking. It lists the materials that come in the box – thick macramé rope, pine branches, linen ribbon, and two florist wires – but it does not tell you what tools you may need to complete the project. After going through it, you generally need a hot glue applicator, scissors, and maybe some tape. Also the instructions, whilst clear, seemed to show that the materials used were of a slightly different size as it seemed my wreath came out a lot bigger.

The macramé rope is really thick! I cut it into six lengths as required and taped it down to my cutting mat as I did not want to leave any marks, and starting plaiting the whole length. I went slightly past the suggested 30cm, which I think had ramifications for later on!

Once plaited, the ends needed to be cut down. I taped the ends and cut a bit off – this is quick tricky with only a pair of craft scissors! To ensure the ends did now fray, I hot glued the plait to be a bit more secure, then I overlapped one end with the other and hot glued that too. The tutorial preferred that you hot glued the ends together but I was not sure if that would hold up well? Again, another decision that could cause issues later on!

The two florist wires were hot glued on the back of the wreath to provide shape and support to the front, but my wires did not cover the whole length, presumably because I did not stick with the suggested 30cm length. So I also added a few wires of my own to cover the gaps, in case it helped with shaping.

These little pine branches are very cute! It is a wrapped pine branch with holly berries and pine cones. These can just be inserted into the wreath at different points. It is probably secure already but I applied a bit of hot glue just in case. I also chose to spread out the branches rather than group them up closely.

The linen ribbon is meant to be cut in half, with one ribbon forming a double bow and the other used to hang the wreath up. I’ve not really worked with this kind of ribbon before; it frayed a lot when I was making the bow, as you can see by the edges. I felt that this would not make for good hanging material, so I used the other half to wrap and cover the wreath join, and then stick the bow on top.

I was thinking of using a simple rope at first to hang the wreath up, but it is too heavy and becomes misshapen when hung up. Instead I used some wide burlap ribbon from my own stash and cut a long length.

Turns out my front door is not very suitable for hanging wreaths over the door as the seal is not a flat surface. I wanted to hang a wreath over the top of the door with an upside-down hook on the other side. So instead I set it up on the next door leading to the living room. I initially tried to use a simple Command hook and tape, but my tape lost its stickiness over the years! I had to source velcro tape; apparently this stuff is much stronger! I tied a knot in the ribbon and the wreath hangs at about chest height for a normal person.

So here is my Christmas wreath after using a box tutorial. I did apply my own flair to it, however the ideas and the materials were not my own. The idea of using macramé rope as the base is quite interesting! But I think because I made it too long, it became a bit harder to shape it into the required round shape. Maybe next year I can source my own materials and make a wreath from scratch that is worthy of being hung outside.

Materials used:
– one tutorial box for making a macramé Christmas wreath
– 50mm burlap ribbon
– velcro tape
– large Command hook

Tools used:
– hot glue gun
– scissors
– magic tape