Christmas Wreaths - artificial or make your own...

Last Christmas I really wanted a couple of nice Christmas wreaths, one to hang on the front door and one in the entry way. I had no idea how expensive the artificial one's cost. Boy was I surprised - Yes, there were some cheap, ugly small ones I could have bought from anywhere between $35 - $75. But I wanted a nice one that I could keep for years to come. The nice ones cost between $75.and $200. That's INSANE and out of my budget. So I took a few extra moments to really look at a few of the wreaths - not much to them. It really didn't look like it would be that difficult to make myself, and believe me, I had no prior experience. So I drove to the closest craft store - Michael's - and waa laa - everything I needed AND on sale. I spent less than $50.00.
I bought supplies for two types of wreaths - an artificial and a real wreath...

• 1 Artificial Wreath (Before shopping, I measured the space to make sure it would be the best fit)
• 1 Wire Wreath Frame (I used the trimmings from my real tree and wired them on the frame)
  
• An assortment of the clusters of decorations. The quantity depends on your budget and how much "stuff" you want on the wreath (Keep in mind the color skeem and type ie: modern, old fashion, contemporary)
• Ribbon (Make sure you get the most ribbon for the price- some of the rolls can be deceiving, check the details)
• Wire and Wire Cutters (I store these with my Christmas stuff, so I don't have to waste time trying to find where they are in the house)
• Glue Gun and Glue Stick (I already had this at home)

If your not sure what decorative items to buy, you can go to Michael's and find wreath projects that will give you designs to review and what items you would need.

I took me about an 1 1/2 to set up, design both wreaths and hang them up. I had my daughter help, which made it much more fun. (see the picture above)

I will be making the live one this weekend and adding all the pieces from last year's live wreath. I will post it once it is done.