Christmas Wreath

Wreath Tutorial inspired by Magnolia

Supplies: 

Thrill Of Hope print out. You can use the pdf with the qr code. Mine was 36 x 36 inches printed in color on architecture blueprint paper at Staples. (~$12)

Foam Core Boards;  3 white

One big gold hoop. I got mine on Amazon. 42 x 42 inches. 

Dried Orange Slices (see directions below)

Little Houses, these were from Target. Used 10. 

Bottle brush trees in varying sizes and colors. Walmart.

Thin wire - Walmart 

Glue gun - any craft store 

Glue stick - dry clear

Greenery, pinecones, and little flowers or berries, etc. I used 3 kinds of greenery for a pleasing variety of looks and colors. 

(I didn’t end up using the stags that I picked up which you can see in the first photo, but I think they could look great in the wreath. I found them at Target.) 

Directions: 

To make your dried oranges:  Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a very sharp knife, cut 3 or 4 oranges into thin slices. ⅛ to ¼ inch thickness is great. Try to keep them the same width so they all dry evenly. 

Place orange slices in a single layer on the parchment paper and put in the oven for 2 hours. After 2 hours, turn the oranges over, this will help them dry evenly on both sides. 

Bake for 2 more hours. When the baking time is over, turn off the oven leaving the oranges in there till the oven is cool. This will give you perfectly dried orange slices. 

Using a glue stick, glue your “Thrill Of Hope” printout onto the poster board. If you need more than one poster board to get it as big as your printout, tape them together first so they don’t move. 

Use a glue gun to glue the hoop onto your printout. I left some gaps here and there so that there could thread my wire between the hoop and paper for securing the houses. Cut off the excess paper and poster board from around the hoop. Next, start placing your houses on the paper. Play around with it to find an arrangement that you like. Once you’ve found what you want, start securing the houses with some wire, or just go straight to gluing them in with your glue gun. 

Then do the same with the trees; find an arrangement that you like, then glue them in. 

And the same with the greenery. And finally, add your orange slices, berries, or whatever you’re using to add a little bit of color. Voila! A cheery wreath for your Christmas decorating.