Christmas /winter Wreath Low Cost and Easy

This Winter/Christmas wreath is almost free and very easy to make in an afternoon,

you can find all materials in nature,

only the gluesticks and some optional decorations cost a few bucks.



Your not forced to do this as a wreath, you could use the same technique for a rectangular or maybe a star shaped centerpiece.



Hope you like it :)

Leave your house for once and get the needed stuff from mother nature.

14 ft ( 4metres)  of thin branches (diameter ca 0,5 inch and less) i chose willow because it growes back very quickly.
some small pinecones
moss (Cladonia rangiferina) dries very quickly, (if you can't find it there's some in your craft store :P)

tools:
Gluegun (3-4 sticks needed)
scissors
secateurs for the branches
pen and paper
protractor (what a word)

Optional for decoration:
glitter
gold/silver spray paint
pearl-garland and a candle

take your paper and pencil
and draw with help of the protractor 4 lines that cross each other in an 45° angle (see the picture)

now you can draw 2 (outer and inner) circles from the middle as big as you want your wreath.
Draw a octagon ( simply draw lines from the points where the lines cross your circles)
measure the lenght of  the lines -hard to explain in english but you'll figure it out i'm sure!

Know you know how long you have to cut your branches .

In my case it was an outer diameter of 30cm (11,8 inches) and the length of the line were about 11,5cm (4,5inches)
the inner length was 7cm (2,76 inches).

cut the branches with your secateur:

4 pieces outer length
4 pieces outer length plus 2cm ( 1inch)

4 pieces inner length
4 pieces inner length plus 2cm ( 1inch)

It's now rocket science and the pieces don't need to be very accurate.

example: for my wreath it was:
4x 11,5cm (4,5inches)
4x 13,5cm (5,31 inches)

4x 7cm (2,76 inches)
4x 9cm (3,54 inches)


Now lay the pieces on your drawn octagon as shown on the pictures glue them together
I glued the longer pieces on top of the short ones, but i think it doesn't matter.

join the two octagons with a triangle of branches (see the pictures)
now it should be quite sturdy.

cut all your remaining branches into random pieces, long, short , thin, thick - much variation makes it nice,
glue the pieces randomly on your octagons - the should cross and always be glued on two points for maximum strength.
keep going until you are pleased with the hight and look of the costruction.

It's a very sturdy construction now.

take your moss cut it in desired size and glue it in the gaps between the
branch-pieces.

keep going until you're pleased with the result.

you can add more later so don't overdo it.

if you like take some spray paint and cover the cones in a light gold /silver / whatever coat,
thats optional it looks even great  if you leave them as they are.

glue the cones to the wreath as desired, i chose to glue a medium sized and a small one together.

The wreath look already nice and you can leave it as it is.

i Choose to add some pearls of a christmas-garland i already have since 10years :o)
to do so, light a candle and melt the thread on the end of the garland
take the scissors and cut single pearls.

add them randomly to the wreath.

More things you could add:
cinnamon sticks
small ornaments
some glitter