Make a Decorative Wreath for Any Holiday

You can make an attractive decorative wreath for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or almost any holiday or occasion. It’s simple to make your own customized holiday wreath, inexpensively, with common crafting items. Follow these easy directions and you can have your own decorative wreath that is perfectly suited to your home or any location.

Make a Decorative Wreath for Any Occasion

For this project you will need a Styrofoam ring. These are commonly available at crafting specialty stores such as Michael’s. You can also find Styrofoam rings in the crafts section of “Big Box” stores such as Walmart, Target, or Kmart.

You will need Tacky Glue or a similar type of all-purpose crafting glue. Don’t use petroleum based “super glue” as it will react with the Styrofoam and cause it to shrink and melt in the spots where glue is applied.

You will need a slender, blunt tool such as a flat head screwdriver or a metal nail file. Knives or other sharply pointed tools will not work well for this project. Flat tools like the screwdriver work best. Pencils and similar tools can leave a hole that is too big for this project.

You will need about a yard of fabric in whatever colors or pattern suits your needs. You can pick colors or patterns that reflect the holiday you’re crafting for, or something that matches your home or display area. For Thanksgiving, you might use autumn colors such as yellow, orange, and brown.

You will need a pair of pinking shears to cut up the fabric. At the time I last saw my mother build this project, the “zig-zag” patterned pinking shears were the only option to make a decorative cut on fabric or paper. Now there are a wide array of crafting scissors that cut in specially shaped patterns. You may decide to use one of those.

Craft Your Own Holiday Wreath

Cut your chosen fabric into two inch squares. Using your screwdriver or similar tool, push a fabric square by its center into the body of the Styrofoam ring. This creates a tiny “bloom” shape similar to a flower. Don’t use a sharp or wide tool such as a pencil or knife. You don’t want to pierce the fabric; you want to push it into the Styrofoam. If the fabric doesn’t hold well, or falls out when you pull out your tool, apply a drop or two of glue to the hole and push the fabric in again.

Repeat this fabric insertion process, placing the “blooms” close enough together that the Styrofoam surface of the ring doesn’t show between the “petals” of your fabric. Continue until the entire ring is covered. You can use multiple colors of fabric if you wish. When you are finished you can add bows or other embellishments if you wish. Silk leaves or Thanksgiving themed baubles are good items to finish off a Thanksgiving wreath. This type of decorative wreath can be stored and used again year after year. Have fun and be creative.