Hydrangea Wreath

You may remember that when I dried hydrangea a few months ago I mentioned that I'd be making a Christmas wreath. After a trip to A.C. Moore, and a cruise through my neighbor's yard to gather some pine cones, I was ready to get started.  Since this is an inside wreath I opted for an artificial base. Of course I wanted a nice thick wreath that didn't look fake and that was pretty much impossible to find, but I did find some nice garland. It was a nine foot piece which I formed into a circle (double thickness) that when finished measures about 29" across.

I used floral wire to hold the two pieces together. You'll need to wrap a piece around the wreath every 5-6 inches to hold it together. Once that's secure add pine cones around the perimeter by attaching them to a pine bough. I spaced mine about 3-4'' apart.

Next, I attached a garland of artificial berries (A.C. Moore) around the edge of the wreath just inside the pine cones. Everything gets attached with green floral wire. You can adjust the garland so the berries extend toward the edges of the wreath. Center the dried hydrangea on the wreath and push the stems into the greens. You can use a glue gun to hold them in place, or greening pins. I just pushed mine into the greens and they seem to be holding just fine.

To hang the wreath, make a loop using the green floral wire (make sure it's triple thickness) and affix it to the boughs at the top of your wreath.  This wreath is pretty heavy so I used a wall anchor to hang it, and placed a battery operated candle in the base which looks pretty when lit. I also used some of those greening pins in a few strategic spots to hold the wreath against the wall. You can pound them in gently with a hammer. This project will of course involve some spackling paste and paint when I take the it down, but I think it's worth it.