DIY Christmas and New Year wreath of branches

Today, many families have adopted the Western tradition of decorating an apartment for the New Year holiday with Christmas wreaths. This decor always looks great and uplifting. There are a lot of options for creating wreaths. A similar decoration can be made from living branches: juniper, ordinary twigs, pine, cypress, oak, spruce. But sometimes it is created from quite unexpected materials. Of course, such decor can be easily bought at the store. But it’s much more interesting to create a wreath of branches with your own hands. In this case, you can make a truly unique and festive decor.

History of tradition

Before you consider how to make a wreath of branches with your own hands, let's find out who owns the idea of ​​creating such a decor.

For the first time, a Hamburg resident Johann Hinrich Wichner decorated his home with such an element. He took up children from impoverished families. During fasting, the children constantly bothered their mentor with the question: when will the long-awaited Christmas come?

To make it easier for children to count the days before the holiday, Johann made a wreath. Such an item was made of a wooden wheel. It was decorated with 19 small red candles and 4 large white ones. Every day, one candle was lit on a wreath: if it was weekdays, then it was red, and if it was Sunday, then it was a large white one.

Locals really liked this wreath, and they quickly adopted the tradition. So an amazing Christmas attribute has reached our times.

Traditional wreath decoration

If you decide to make a Christmas wreath of branches with your own hands, then feel free to connect all your imagination. You can create a unique decoration from any materials at hand. There are many amazing ideas for making this decor.

However, if you want to follow the traditions, then you need to familiarize yourself with some recommendations. Initially, let's figure out the color scheme.

The traditional palette of the Christmas wreath are shades:

• green;
• white;
• red;
• gold.

What is used for decoration?

When planning to make a wreath of branches with your own hands, think about what jewelry you will use.

Most often used for the Christmas attribute:

1. Cones (pine, spruce). Natural decor looks spectacular. Sometimes the cones are sprayed with a golden or silver spray.
2. Berries The most popular are viburnum, mountain ash, wild rose. The wreath can be decorated with fresh or dry twigs with berries.
3. Nuts, fruits. Original look dried slices of lemons, oranges, tangerines. For a wreath, any kind of nut is used. A swirling (dry) orange peel can be a great decoration.
4. Spices . Incredible aroma in the New Year will provide dried cloves, cinnamon sticks.
5. Sweets . You can even decorate a wreath with cookies and sweets.
6. Bows, ribbons. By tradition, the Christmas attribute was decorated with plain red bows. Today, striped ribbons and checkered are used for decoration.
7. Little Christmas toys. Small bells, birds, stars, snowmen, angels, balls will give a special charm to your wreath. In addition, decorate it with Christmas tinsel and beads.
8. Candles This decor is only suitable for those wreaths that are located on a horizontal solid surface.

Additional recommendations

There are a few little secrets that you can consider when making a Christmas wreath of branches with your own hands:

1. If you want the next year to bring you prosperity, fasten a coin on the wreath.
2. Well-being will bring a small horseshoe.
3. And to catch luck, decorate the wreath with a symbol of the coming year.

Frame manufacturing

Having prepared all the necessary elements, we will begin to create a wreath of branches with our own hands. A master class will help with this.

New Year's wreath should be very durable. That is why you should thoroughly approach the manufacture of the frame.

Such an element can be created in several ways:

• twist the vine and carefully fix it;
• crumple newspapers, give them the shape of a ring, and pull on top of the thread;
• use an old watering hose;
• to connect the rods of willow, bird cherry, buckthorn;
• cut a circle out of cardboard (make a smaller hole inside);
• apply a hose from under the old vacuum cleaner;
• use a disposable plate in the middle of which cut a round hole;
• to get a ready foam ring;
• apply dry grass, give it the shape of a ring and pull tightly with threads.
• make a circle of wire (you can use an old wire hanger).

Frame decoration

We continue to consider how to make a wreath of branches with your own hands.

So, you have a ready frame. The next stage is decorating it with branches. You can use live needles. Pine branches are perfect, fir trees look more elegant.

If you want your creation to be preserved for a long time, then make an artificial wreath of branches with your own hands. You can apply such decor for the next year, having slightly diluted the composition with new elements. In almost every home you can find an old artificial Christmas tree. Do not rush to throw it away. After all, you can make a great New Year's wreath with your own hands from fir branches. He will not yield in beauty to his analogue, created from living elements.

To decorate the frame, you need to cut the branches. It is very convenient to perform such an action with the help of secateurs.

The branches are overlapped. The lush part should cover the wood of the previous one. In addition, arrange the branches so that the frame is not visible. Durable threads can be used for fastening. An excellent solution is the use of wire. It will allow you to firmly fix all the elements.

As you can see, making a Christmas wreath with your own hands from fir branches (both live and artificial) is a simple task.

Fixing decorative elements

So, now you know how to make a regular wreath of fir branches with your own hands. But it must be decorated. Here you can fully express your imagination. You can use any decor.

However, the next question that you will encounter when decorating a Christmas wreath with your own hands from branches is how to fix the elements.

The following recommendations will help you decorate the resulting masterpiece:

1. Any branches are always fixed with an overlap. They should be tightly wrapped with threads or wire.
2. Chestnuts, acorns, cones, nuts, bows, you can easily stick to the surface with superglue.
3. Christmas balls can be attached with a wire, passing it through a hat-pendant. Fix it around the base of the wreath. In addition, Christmas toys can also be glued to the base of the wreath with superglue.
4. With ribbons, you can wrap a wreath, tie them in bows. If it is necessary to firmly fix the strip, then it is glued to the base wreath.

Door Decor

So you made a wonderful Christmas wreath with your own hands from branches! But now a new question has arisen: how to attach this masterpiece to the door?

There are several ways:

1. Make two absolutely identical wreaths by weight. Take a long ribbon. Tie one end to the wrong side of the first wreath, and attach the other to the other Christmas attribute. Throw the tape through the door. The first wreath will be on the outside of the door, and the other will flaunt on the inside. Fix the tape on top with masking tape. Nobody will see him anyway.
2. If there is a peephole on your door, you can fix your masterpiece as follows. Take a strong fishing line and tie or glue it on the wrong side of the wreath. Throw this structure through the door, approximately as described above. But the second end of the fishing line should be fixed around the door peephole.
3. A fairly simple method of fastening is the use of hangers on suction cups. They can be purchased at the hardware store. With the help of such hangers you can easily attach a wreath to the door. If your decor is light, then you can do two things. A wreath is recommended to be hung at the top and bottom.
4. You can use double-sided tape. This is the easiest and best option. One side of the tape is glued to the inside of the wreath. Then it is necessary to remove the protective film and fix the product on the door.

Conclusion

Now you know how to create a unique wreath of branches with your own hands. And do not forget that you need to prepare in advance for the New Year holiday. In this case, you will have time to adequately decorate your home.