Wreaths for a Home Grown Accent

This morning I rolled out of bed and had a craft inspiration. I don't celebrate Christmas but I do celebrate Yule. And I'm not particularly fond of getting a log, the traditional Yule symbol. For one thing, I don't even have a fireplace.

So I sat down on my couch and thought about what kind of Yule decoration I could come up with. And my eyes happened to look at my piano, where I had a bunch of silver faux foliage 'picks' designed to enhance holiday packages arranged in two ceramic pitchers. So I thought 'aha' I bet I could make a wreath with those. And then I remembered I had store bought wreaths in different sizes that I always keep on hand to use as gourd stands.

So I picked out a grapevine wreath, and started adding the picks to it. I had wire handy to hold them in place, but I found I didn't need it, as there were plenty of spaces between the dried vines.

I hung it on my door, and I thought, ‘it needs red berries'. But then I thought 'wouldn't it be more creative is I took some small jewelry gourds; spray painted them red and used them as a color accent'. So right now they are out on my patio drying. When they are dry I will wire the tops together and add them to my wreath.

But then I got to thinking of all the other wreaths I had made throughout the year. I had some St. Patrick's Day garland in green and I wove that around a small wreath to make a lucky wreath for the post outside my front door.

I wove wooden beads in natural colors around a wreath once too. Any garland or ribbon is fair game.

Wreaths come in various styles from Styrofoam, to rose vines. They are also straw wreaths and wire wreath bases. So whether you want to add pinecones or handmade dolls, there really is an infinite variety of things you can add on to a wreath.

Don't forget you can make a special wreath for a wedding, a confirmation, a baptism or a funeral. You can customize one to fit any event.

You can also make a Multi Purpose wreath that you can alter slightly as the months go by. Get a basic grapevine wreath in whatever size fits your mantle or door. Just plain, you have a basic brown or tan.

Each month you remove the decorations, and add the new ones for the current theme.

January: Wrap with white ribbon for winter, tuck in little snowmen, snowflakes, red berries or other wintry things.

Feb: Add hearts and red ribbons and bows for Valentine's Day. Or go with girly pink.

March: Find some pretty yellow ribbon with white polka dots and add faux daffodils or tulips.

April: Wrap in lavender ribbon and add decorative eggs or tiny rabbits to make an Easter or Ostera wreath.

May: Green is the birthstone of May. Now's your chance to make that St. Patrick's Day wreath I described earlier.

June: June is the most popular month for weddings, so why not make a fertility wreath with white ribbons, baby's breath, and Hershey's chocolate kisses.

July: Red, white and blue if you are celebrating American Independence Day.

Otherwise, how about adding ribbons in the colors of summer with lots of flowers all around.

August: Did you take a summer vacation? Decorate a wreath with your vacation ephemera from plane ticket stubs, to snapshots of your journey. If you have tiny souvenirs, you can wire them to the wreath as well.

September: Make a back-to-school wreath. Add pencils (little stubby ones if you have them), erasers, pencil sharpeners, and a school photo or two. If your children have already graduated, put one of their wallet sized framed graduation photos on it too.

October: Make a gothic or Samhain (Halloween) wreath. Add little skeletons, orange and black ribbons and bows, a plastic spider, etc.

November: Fall colors make for a delightful wreath. Add faux apples, grapes or cherries.

December: Yule or Christmas wreath. See if you have some tiny ornaments that you could add to your wreath.

Other wreath ideas: Nascar...wire tiny cars to the wreath

Sports wreath: Customized for your favorite sport's fan.

Collector's wreath: You can add anything from penguins to rhinestone pins onto a wreath.

Have fun, and I'd love to see photos of your wreath creations.