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You can craft a uniquely lovely wreath, for your holiday front door, with some pampas grass, a wreath form, spray paint and a few small decorations. Just follow these easy instructions.

Materials:

1 Styrofoam or straw wreath form instructions are for a 12-inch base.
4 to 5 large pampas grass fronds
Hot glue gun, and florists' wire or raffia for attaching fronds to base

Spray paint green, silver, red or blue work best (gold and other colors with a brown or yellow tone don't show up very well)
Loose glitter (optional)
Small decorations (Christmas bulbs, bells, bows, tiny wrapped packages, fruits, tiny angels, toys or whatever pleases you)
About a yard of wide, wired Christmas ribbon for the bow
Florists' wire to attach small decorations.

Instructions:

First , wrap a double strand of wire around the wreath base and form a loop at the back. This will be the loop it will hang from (so be a bit generous with the loop) and the top of your wreath.
Cut stems from grass fronds, leaving about 1 inch of stem below start of feathering;
With wire or raffia, firmly tie stems, at even intervals around wreath base and reinforce with a bead of hot glue;
At this point, the fronds will be sticking out like a pinwheel. They aren't as fragile as they look, but should still be handled with care.

Gently bend the fronds and, with another strand or raffia or wire, secure each frond directly over the stem of the next;
Again, gently, fluff the feathers of the fronds into the desired shape, securing, where necessary, with a tiny bead of hot glue (be careful with the glue strings of it in the fronds make an interesting effect, but probably not what we're going for).
When you have the shape that pleases you, you're ready to paint.

Hang your wreath, by its loop, from a string, so that it can be seen from both sides;
Lightly, spray a single coat of paint on all sides of your wreath spraying against the growth of the fronds will put more color in the interior.
Don't touch your wreath while painting. You don't want paint clumps. Stop before you have the desired depth of color. Also, don't go for an opaque look, the fronds are too delicate to support the weight of that much paint.

If the result of one coat is close to a desired result, prepare the glitter open the container and shake a small amount onto a small plate or piece of cardboard;
Working on a section at a time, spray another light coat of paint onto your wreath, hold up the glitter on its plate, and gently blow the glitter onto the wet paint;
When finished, allow your wreath to dry several hours or over night.
Now you're on the home stretch ready to decorate.

Decide on placement of your ornaments;
Cut strands of wire long enough to wrap around your wreath base and twist, with about three extra inches (For a 3-inch thick straw base, I cut 10-inch pieces of wire don't worry about a little extra, you can clip it right off);
Bend the wire in half, thread an ornament onto it and twist to secure;
Spread the ends of the wire and push through the painted fronds to span the base;
When you see the ends poke out in back, pull them until the ornament rests as deep into the fronds as you want it;
Carefully twist the ends together and push tight against the back of the base; clip excess, if necessary;
Secure twisted ends against the base with a bead of hot glue.
When all the ornaments are attached, tie a large bow with the wired ribbon and either -

Attach at the top, front of your wreath as you did the ornaments, or
Wrap the ribbon around the top of the wreath and tie your bow in place.
Arrange the ribbon ends, artistically and trim, if necessary.
Your wreath is finished and ready to hang on your front door as a very personal welcome to the season.

Learn more about this author, Joann Brosnan.
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