Dried Flower Wreaths and You

Wondering how to spend the lazy summer afternoons? Why not make some wreaths using freeze-dried hydrangea and roses. Your time will find pleasantly, sharpening your creative faculties in the process.

 What you’ll need the following materials:

1. Bunch of reeds, 1″ thick and 2′ long
2. String
3. Scissors
4. Long piece of ribbon.
5. Freeze dried hydrangea and roses
6. Large ribbon for bows
7. Fresh berries

Direction:

First of all get the reed from any craft stores or basket supply stores. Then fill the bucket with warm water and soak the reeds in the water. Leave it for about half an hour or until they are supple. You will do this in order to make the reeds flexible and easy to work with. After the reeds are soaked and supple remove them from the water and dry the surplus water. Use tissue paper or a soft piece of cloth to soak the water. , Now bend the reeds to form a circle by putting ends on top of another.

The number of overlapping of reeds will depend upon desired thickness. So, it’s all up to you to decide the thickness of the reeds wreath base. Then after, you will secure the reed with floral wire or a string. Tie the wreaths properly. Cut off the excess string. Now take a long piece of satin ribbon and wrap it loosely all around the wreath.  However make sure that some parts of the reeds are visible.

Now take a small bunches of hydrangea and cut it unto the length of about three inch. Either knit them on the wreath or stick them on with the ribbon using hot glue. After you finish up with hydrangea, continue with roses. Cut the stem of the roses unto the length f about three inches and weave it too on the wreath. Use floral tapes or wire or strings. Add some extra finishing touch by tying ribbons or bow and may be some fresh red berries. Here I used a large ribbon and folded it to make a bow. You are done!

So, bid goodbye to the spring and welcome the summer with this refreshing summer wreath.

Wondering how to add a twist to your home décor, to make it different from run-of-the mill urban homes? Well, help is at hand! Simply buy some freeze- dried hydrangeas and roses and you are ready to make wonderful wreath to adorn your home sweet home. 

You’ll need the following materials:

1. Bunch of reeds
2. String
3. Scissors
4. Long piece of ribbon.
5. Freeze dried hyacinth and gladiolus
6. Large ribbon for bows
7. Fresh berries

Direction:

First of all get the reeds from any craft stores or basket supply stores. Then fill the bucket with warm water and soak the reeds in the water. Leave it for about half an hour or until they are supple. You will do this in order to make the reeds flexible and easy to work with. After the reeds are soaked and supple remove them from the water and dry the surplus water. Use tissue paper or a soft piece of cloth to soak the water. , Now bend the reeds to form a circle by putting ends on top of another.

The number of overlapping of reeds will depend upon desired thickness. So, it’s all up to you to decide the thickness of the reeds wreath base. Then after, you will secure the reed with floral wire or a string. Tie the wreaths properly. Cut off the excess string. Now take a long piece of satin ribbon and wrap it loosely all around the wreath.  However make sure that some parts of the reeds are visible.

Now take a small bunches of hyacinth and cut it unto the length of about three inch. Either knit them on the wreath or stick them on with the ribbon using hot glue. After you finish up with hyacinth, continue with gladiolus. Cut the stem of the roses unto the length f about three inches and weave it too on the wreath. Use floral tapes or wire or strings. Add some extra finishing touch by tying ribbons or bow and may be some fresh red berries. Here I used a large ribbon and folded it to make a bow. You are done!

Hope you have a rollicking time making the wreaths.

Wreaths are a wonderful way to brighten up your room with minimum effort and maximum effects. You simply have to work up your imagination and the sky is your limit. All flowers, fruits and foliage can be used to make exciting wreaths. In fact, you can use everything under the sun, like paper, ribbons, fur, beads and whatever may catch your fancy.

Dried wreaths made of dried flowers and plant materials are also quite stunning. Fresh     You can make a breathtaking dried wreath yourself by following the simple steps given below. 

Collect the following materials:

Heart shaped grapevine wreath base

Preserved salal

Preserved eucalyptus

Burgundy silk roses

Preserved statice, fern, lavender, celosia, rice flowers

Preserved Australian daisies

Yarrow, Globe Amaranth

Moss

Bear grass

Sheer mauve ribbon

Florist wire

Hot glue

Instructions:

1. Make several bunches with the flowers and foliage and tie with florist wire. Cover the wire with bear grass. You can include a particular type of flower exclusively in each bunch. Using different foliage for different bunches will give an interesting look to the wreath. Do not use up all the flowers and foliage, as you will need some later.
2. Tear the moss into roughly edged pieces and attach them to the wreath base with hot glue.
3. Attach some of the salal and eucalyptus leaves randomly with glue on the wreath.

1.      Place each bunch on the moss-covered wreath and secure it with florist wire. In similar manner, cover the whole wreath with all the bunches, overlapping them a bit to give a dense look. Take a step back and check whether there is any gap in the wreath. If so, cover it up with flowers and foliage.2.      Cut the flower heads of the roses and decorate the wreath by attaching with hot glue.

4. Make a bow with the sheer ribbon and attach on one side of the wreath.

You may add some more decorations if you feel like.

My heart is reaching out to you,
For what you’re going through;
I’m thinking of you frequently
And praying for you, too.

If there’s something I can do,
Anything at all,
Think of me thinking of you,
And don’t hesitate to call.

By Joanna Fuchs

Bereavement in any form is hard to bear. Time and love of family and friends help to heal the wound to some extent. Condolence wreaths serve to express your sincere feelings and support for the grieving family in a graceful manner. You may try making the silk rose wreath with the help of the following instructions, to show how much the deceased meant to you .

Collect the following materials:

Heart shaped grapevine wreath base

Preserved salal

Preserved eucalyptus

Burgundy silk roses

Preserved statice, fern, lavender, celosia, rice flowers

Preserved Australian daisies

Yarrow, Globe Amaranth

Moss

Bear grass

Sheer mauve ribbon

Florist wire

Hot glue

Instructions:

1. Make several bunches with the flowers and foliage and tie with florist wire. Cover the wire with bear grass. You can include a particular type of flower exclusively in each bunch. Using different foliage for different bunches will give an interesting look to the wreath. Do not use up all the flowers and foliage, as you will need some later.
2. Tear the moss into roughly edged pieces and attach them to the wreath base with hot glue.
3. Attach some of the salal and eucalyptus leaves randomly with glue on the wreath.

4.      Place each bunch on the moss-covered wreath and secure it with florist wire. In similar manner, cover the whole wreath with all the bunches, overlapping them a bit to give a dense look. Take a step back and check whether there is any gap in the wreath. If so, cover it up with flowers and foliage.

5.      Cut the flower heads of the roses and decorate the wreath by attaching with hot glue.

6. Make a bow with the sheer ribbon and attach on one side of the wreath.

Have you recently returned from a delightful camping holiday and missing the lovely countryside. Well, we have a solution for your woes. Make a camping wreath with fresh evergreens, wildflowers and other foliage usually found in the pen woods. Hang this wreath in such a place where there is plentiful supply of fresh air but the is protected from the direct rays of the sun. This will help the wreath to dry gradually and after a few days you will get a wonderful dried evergreen wreath.   

Materials you will need:

Straw Wreath frame

Florist wire

Snippers

Wire cutters

Sheet moss

Fresh boughs like pine, fir, cedar, spruce, holly or any evergreen foliage with few leaves on them.

Bunches of berries with leaves attached

Honeysuckle

Pine needles

Following are the guidelines you may follow but feel free to use your creativity.

1. Soak the moss in water and take it out. Cut the moss into long strips. Apply hot glue and attach the strips to the wreath base. Ensure that you have covered the whole wreath with the sheet moss.

    2. With the snippers, cut the boughs into 6-10 inch each. Now, tie 3-4 branches with leaves and other foliage. Secure with florist wire. Make 6-7 bunches in similar manner.

    3. Now, place a bunch on the wreath and tie it firmly with florist wire. Arrange all the bunches so as to cover the wreath completely.

     4. Make small bunches of the berries and tie with florist wire to the wreath.

     5. Add the honeysuckle all over the wreath to give it an out-of –doors feel.

      6. tie the pine needles into small bunches and decorate the wreath with them.

Take a step back and see whether there are any spaces in the wreath. In case of any blank space, fill it up with bunches of evergreen foliage.

Mother Goose is one of the oldest and most endearing nursery rhyme characters. It is said to have originated in the Middle Ages and has charmed generations of children all around the world. The most common pictures of Mother Goose available is that of a plump goose, dressed up in old-fashioned clothes, sometimes holding an umbrella. Below you will find simple instructions to make an adorable Mother Goose wreath with plenty of all-time favorite Nursery rhyme characters. This craft will take you down the memory lane for sure!

Materials you will need:

A cardboard wreath base with a hook for hanging

Construction papers of all possible colors

Scissors

Sketching and painting materials/ nursery toys in the shape of Mother Goose, Humpty Dumpty, Mary with a little lamb and so on

Hot glue or strong glue

Toy duck

Pieces of cloth and doll’s clothes

Needle and thread

Instructions:

You may make this wreath with the readymade toys if you want to save time and labor. But making the nursery characters with your kids is will take you back to your childhood days. It will also improve the drawing skills of your kids and keep them away from mischief. So making this wreath is a lovely fun way to keep the little angels busy on lazy Sunday afternoons.   

1.Cover the cardboard wreath with white construction paper.

2. take out the nursery books. Help your kids to sketch their favorite characters on the construction paper and paint them. If you are pressed for time, draw the characters on the appropriately colored construction papers to save time in painting.

3. Allow the paint to dry. Using strong glue attach all the characters on the wreath leaving  aspace of at least 1 inch between them.

4. Now for the main attraction of the wreath- Mother Goose. For this, take the toy duck and wrap a piece of red cloth around the shoulders like a shawl. Tell your little girl to bring her doll’s bonnet, hat, gown and apron and dress up your duck. Your mother goose is ready. Now you will have to hang the goose from the top of the wreath.

5. Pierce the head of the duck with a long , stout needle to which a thread has been attached. Tie a knot at one end an hang the goose from the top.

Your Mother Goose wreath is ready to wow everyone. 

Come to me, O ye children!
For I hear you at your play,
And the questions that perplexed me
Have vanished quite away.

Ye open the eastern windows,
That look towards the sun,
Where thoughts are singing swallows
And the brooks of morning run.

In your hearts are the birds and the sunshine,
In your thoughts the brooklet’s flow,
But in mine is the wind of Autumn
And the first fall of the snow.

Henry Longfellow

Children are the blessings of God. The world would undoubtedly be a desert without the guileless laughter of the little angels. They remind us of the most glorious period of our life- our childhood. It is for them that we must make this world a better place to live in. Children, by their innocent questions and prattle unknowingly teach us some of the greatest truths of life. So, this Children’s Day celebrate and honor the golden phase of man’s life by making an adorable fairy wreath with your kids. Have a great time.

You will need the following materials:

Cardboard wreath base

Construction papers in red, green, yellow, white and black

Glossy blue colored paper

Scissors

Sketching and painting materials

Glitter

Instructions:

1. Cover the wreath base with black construction paper.
2. Draw little stars on the blue paper and carefully cut them along the edges. Make about 10-12 stars.
3. Keeping a space of at least 2-3 inches, paste these stars on the wreath so that they resemble stars twinkling in the night sky
4. Now is the turn of the moon to shine. For a dear little moon, draw a crescent shaped moon on the yellow paper and cut it out carefully. Paste the moon on the top left of the wreath.
5. If the stars are there and so is the moon, what more do we need to complete this fairyland night. A fairy of course!

“You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4th, not with a parade of guns,
tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics
where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness.  You may think
you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.”
-   Erma Bombeck

 July 4^th, the day we pledge allegiance to our beloved nation, the land of unlimited opportunities and dreams. This day renews our deepest love and devotion for this nation; whish has inspired the world to fight for the sake of liberty, equality and justice. Decorate your office and home with patriotic wreaths of Independence Day cards decorated with pretty dried roses.

Materials you will need:

Cardboard wreath base

White construction paper

Dried pink roses

Silk flower garlands

7-8 Independence Day cards. You may also use pictures of your favorite patriots

Strong glue

Streamers

Scissors

You may follow the simple instructions. However, always feel free to innovate. You may use fresh flowers to decorate the cards instead of dried ones, use paper flags instead of cards. 

1. Wrap the wreath base with the paper, keeping the center hole open.
2. Wrap the wreath with the silk flower garland,
3. Cut the flower heads of the roses carefully so as not to break them.  Now, we shall decorate each card with he dried roses. Apply strong adhesive to the 4 borders of each card and attach the rose heads.
4. Decorate all the cards in similar manner.
5. Attach a little bow to the left corner of each card.
6. Attach the cards to the wreath leaving some space between each.
7. Decorate the wreath with streamers and baubles.

Your Independence Day wreath is ready to brighten your home.

Hanukkah is a brilliant ‘Festival of Lights’. It is a Jewish festival commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem during the Maccabean revolt of the 2^nd century B.C.  Believers observe Hanukkah for eight nights, starting on the 25^th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar.

This year celebrate Hanukkah with a blueberry wreath you can make so easily at home. 
 Materials:

Blueberries

Pinecones

Dried flowers like poinsettia, roses and carnations

White holly berries

Reindeer moss

Blue bow

Grapevine wreath base

Fern

Hot glue

Candles

Instructions:

1. Make several small bunches of the dried flowers and tie with pieces of ribbon. While tying the flowers, take care not to tie them too tightly, as dry flowers are brittle. The color arrangement of the flowers is also important; there must be a balance in the color and size of the flowers.
2.  Wash the blueberries and allow them to dry. Separate the sprigs to make several small bunches. Tie with florist wire.
3.  Separate the sprigs of white holly berries and make bunches with bits of fern. Tie with florist wire.
4. Cover the wreath base with the reindeer moss and attach with hot glue.
5. Add hot glue to the pinecones and attach them to the wreath base in a circle with equal spacing.
6. Place each bunch on the wreath base and tie firmly with florist wire. Arrange all the other bunches in an overlapping manner on the wreath to give a dense look.
7. Secure the fruit bunches all over the wreath with floral tape.
8. Place the wreath on a center table and arrange the candles in the center hole of the wreath. Light the candles just before your guests arrive.
9. Add a large blue bow to complete the look.

Your Hanukkah wreath is ready to give a grand welcome to your guests.

Arbor day encourages people to save and protect the environment by planting trees. It originated in Nebraska city, United States, but it is also celebrated by several other countries. J. Sterling Morton is credited with introducing the novel theme in Nebraska in 1872. National Arbor Day is celebrated each year on the last Friday in April. People plant and gift trees on this day. Balloons, caps, T-shirts with plant motifs and pictures sell like hot cakes on Arbor Day. Painting competitions, debates and a variety of programmes are held throughout the day, stressing the ecological importance of trees. This Day serves to remind the people of the catastrophic consequences of a treeless world. This year celebrate Arbor Day with a wreath of fresh flowers and greenery to match the occasion.

You will need the following materials:

• Fresh green twigs of fir, pine, redwood with leaves
• Spring flowers like delphinium, tulips, daisies
• Small wildflowers
• Green berries
• Ribbons
• Styrofoam
• Sheet moss
• Transparent tape
• Floral wire

Procedure:

1. Arrange all the items on your worktable.

2. Cut the twigs at least 8-10 inches long. They shouldn’t be dry when you make the wreath or else they may break.

3. Make several bunches of the spring flowers and tie with florist wire.

4. Soak the Styrofoam in water, squeeze out the water and cut in the shape of a circular wreath. Now, soak the sheet moss in lukewarm water, squeeze out the water and wrap around the foam base with hot glue. Dipping the sheet moss in warm water softens the moss and makes it pliable.

4.  Arrange the bunches on the wreath base and stick with floral tape until the base is fully covered.

Place the little wildflowers at equal distances from each other and fasten with hot glue