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Making Seasonal Wreaths

Wreaths are not just for Christmas. An inexpensive or sometimes free grapevine wreath can be decorated for any holiday or season of the year.
In northern Illinois, wild grapes are everywhere. In early summer the plants can be cut and formed into wreaths. Use twine and interweave the vines into and around each other to form a circle. Or you can also just make a swag from it that is also easily decorated. When making the wreath, make sure to remove any leaves and then set the wreath in a place where it can dry out. If the wreath is too heavily entwined, you might have to check for mold on it, as some of the inner vines may not be getting enough air to dry out.

Your other option is to buy an inexpensive wreath or swag at a craft store.
When the wreath is dry, it is ready to decorate. Some of the easiest ideas for decorating include using silk flowers and greenery. You will need a small block of styrofoam to stick the decorations in, if you just want the flowers in a particular place on the wreath. You will also need florists wire to attach both the foam block and the flowers/greens. Do not bother to buy the individual wires as it also comes in type of bolt, wrapped around a piece of cardboard. This way you can unwind as much as you want without any waste.
If you want to use the same wreath for multiple seasons or holidays, it is much easier to just decorate one part of the wreath. By inbedding your silk or dried flowers in just the foam block that has been wired to the wreath, you can change just the foam block.
Here are some suggestions for the seasons: For spring, use lavender pink and yellow silk flowers with some lighter colored greenery. Then add a coordinating bow.
The greenery for all of the seasons can drape down from the foam block and may be lightly wired to the wreath for ease of removel.
Summer wreaths, you want to use more vivid colors also with coordinating ribbon.
In fall there are a multitude of choices. The dried flowers and things like wheat sheafs are very good to use for fall, although they should be changed every year as they can become brittle and fall apart easily.
Winter/Christmas.. you can use fresh greenery which smells wonderful. For this you will need a block of florist foam that can be soaked in water. It is best to have a plastic holder for this foam block so that the water is held in better. Any flower shop should have something that will help you. When you put the greens in, you also may want to spray them with an item called Wilt-Pruf. It will will assist in keeping the greenery from drying out. For this season, you can add ornaments and ribbons, and things like glittered twigs to brighten up the wreath.
A wreath is an easy way to keep the seasons fresh in your home. Of course you can also decorate the wreaths to match your decor. Silk flowers come in so many colors that you will have no problem finding something that will enhance the beauty of your home. For a more permanent decoration, you might want to use a hot glue gun to attach the greenery and flowers to the wreath as you are not concerned with changing it for the season.

Learn more about this author, Pamela Mercier.
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