Easy Christmas Decor: DIY Wreath

Maybe I lied- this is more of a putzy project than easy. Well, it's both easy and putzy. You get it.

Ever wonder what to do with those sawn off branches from bottom of the Christmas tree? Look no further. Instead of paying $18 for a Home Depot look alike wreath (or twice that much for a Boy Scout one!), you can make your own. I know $18 isn't expensive but I was feeling crafty and looking for ways to save money.

I'm embarrassed to tell you how I made this wreath: it was born from a mixture of laziness and cheapness on my part.

Here is the very basic tutorial I "followed." You'll understand those quotes in a second.

If you're making wreath the right way, you'll need:

• floral wire
• two wire coat hangers (or metal hoops)
• fresh pine boughs
• embellishments

If you're making the wreath the way I did, you'll need:

• paper clips (yes, yes... I didn't have wire and didn't want to drive to the store)
• one coat hanger
• fresh pine boughs
• hot glue gun
• sticks
• embellishments (I used pine cones)

Cut of 8" to 10" sections of the branches and bundle them together using floral wire (or paper clips:) I used three small branches in each bundle. Wrap the wire from your bundle around your wire frame to connect it. Keep going until the whole frame is covered, making sure to overlap each bundle with the next so your wreath doesn't look sparse. It took about 15 - 20 bundles to cover my wreath.

Since I only used one coat hanger, my wreath was pretty floppy. Embarrassing alternative number two: I found some sticks in the garage and wired them in to the back of my frame (you can't see them) to make the wreath more study and rigid.

Let's just call this being resourceful.

I hot glued the pine cones in and hung the wreath. There were a few parts where my stick frame could be seen, so I hot glued some more branches over the part, and no one one's the wiser. Except for you all, since I'm telling you.

I'm never buying a wreath again! And now you don't have to, either!