HANGING ADVENT WREATH TUTORIAL

Wreaths have been used for centuries to symbolize life through the winter months, especially symbolized by the evergreen trees through the winter. There are many different traditions with the wreath, most common is the Advent Wreath with 4 candles, one lit each Sunday before Christmas when the family is gathered.

  These are the things I gathered for this project. I did not use the little sun and moon garland, and I added some green binding that is not in the picture, but everything else I used.  You will need: 

1. EVERGREEN BOUGHS 

2. WREATH FRAME OR BRANCH WREATH BASE(I have made them much larger and I have also made my own base out of willow and Virginia Creeper vine. 

3. RIBBON (bows, hangers,) 

4. CORD ( for hanging from ceiling)

5. NEEDLE NOSE PLIERS, FLORIST WIRE OR OTHER FINE WIRE, SCISSORS 

6. PINE CONES,ORNAMENTS AND DECORATIVE MATERIALS

7. CANDLES , CANDLE HOLDERS ( I made mine out of large bells that I opened up with the pliers). I did not use glue in the project, but if you like hot glue, it might go faster.

8. I have also added a green edging seen in the picture below, winding it around wreath will make a convenient way to poke the boughs into the wreath easily.

In this picture, 3 steps are completed. First decided to make an added material to poke the evergreen boughs in, so I criss-crossed some green binding I found, first winding it one way and then the other. Boughs will be inserted on both the top and the bottom.  I then took the red velvet ribbon and made a loop in the middle of an 18" piece, then tied it with a knot and bow on the bottom. This picture is the top view. Put four loop ribbons , dividing the wreath in equal quarters, the hanging cords will attach the loops. I have also wired on the bell "cups" for the candles, which in a cross pattern, alternating with the red ribbon.

This shows the large bell, turned up side down and opened with the pliers, making a good holder for a tapered candle. This is fastened to the wreath by florists wire trough the bell hanger, which is now on the bottom.
The tall candles made these wobble a bit and I used a caulking material in the form of a cord to steady their position. I made four, but you could add any number of candles desired or relating to your tradition.

This is a close up of the red velvet ribbon loop made by tying it on the bottom. 

We are now ready to add the boughs to the top part of the wreath.

Fir and sugar pine boughs, about 5" long, have been inserted into the binding and the twigs. The fir boughs face downward so when you look up, you see the green side of the branch and not the back. These should be pushed in nice and far so they will not fall out of jostled around.  For a decorative effect, I added 4 spruce cones on top with florists wire. The next step is to add the hanging cord or ribbon.

I happened to have some gold cord so am using it. I figured out how long I needed these to be by using a tape measure from the ceiling down to where I wanted the wreath.  I cut four lengths. You could also use heavy ribbon for this, maybe an inch wide or so. Because the cord I had is heavy, chose to secure it with copper wire bound around it and avoid a bulky knot. I then covered that joining with red ribbon which I tied i a bow a few inches up the cord.

For a decorative effect, I added wired bows at the base of each cord , out of 3" wide woven ribbon I had.

After all four hanger cords were done, I added four candles. As I mentioned above, once the candles were in , I stabilized the holders with a non-flammable caulking material. We are now ready to hang the wreath.

The Wreath is hung on a plant type hook, installed in the ceiling.  Now there is easy access to the underside of the wreath. More boughs are added to the bottom and middle to fill out the shape. Also, pine cones attached with wire, some red berries and mistletoe for fun. I added some ornaments to brighten it up as well.
The variations are endless with this project, as well as the colors and materials.  Another version of this is made with a twig wreath, and then cinnamon sticks, dried orange slices, dried cranberry garlands and pine cones are put on the wreath instead of greens. Cinnamon oil is added for fragrance. This is a lovely version for the kitchen and can be stored for next year. 

The beautiful wreath hangs cheerily over the kitchen table and creates a festive and bright Holiday feature, loved by all.

All content of this post is protected by my copyright and may not be copied, transferred or used with out my permission. Thank you.   Copyright 2015 by Lucinda Claire Macy