Well, my mother lives in an apartment at a complex for seniors.  She was in need of a fall wreath.  Yesterday, as I was waiting for my daughter to show up for a dress fitting, (altering one for another wedding,) I put together this wreath for her.

Supplies Needed

   Believe it or not, it only took a grapevine wreath, one bush of flowers, one stem of leaves, and one stem of hickory nuts and tiny pine cones.   You can see below.  You’ll also need burlap ribbon.

Separating The Flowers And Leaf Stems

    The first thing to do is separate the individual flowers.  That will make it easier to place them on the wreath to get an idea of where you want them.

   The leaf stem is a nice large size and I cut it into three pieces.  When working with the leaves, obviously, you don’t want the backs of the leaves facing forward.  

At the base of the leaf, where the leaf stem connects to the main stem, turn the leaf around to face the way you want it.    You are the master here!

   Working With The Leaves 

        Place the leaf sprays on the wreath and play with it, until you find a pleasing arrangement.   As you can see in the picture, I removed one of the leaves from the stem and used it to elongate the spray at the bottom.

 

   The leaf I removed looked like this, kind of crumpled and not very pretty.  It wouldn’t be much of a background for the flowers.   I ran it under the faucet with the water on low for just a couple of seconds and manipulated and flattened it.

   (A word of caution here, don't completely saturate it.  The dyes will bleed.  A little won't hurt, but you don't want a major loss of dye.  The silk leaves are also very delicate when wet, handle them gently!) 

   Then, I laid a folded dishtowel on top of it and allowed it to dry flat.

   What a difference, huh?

   One thing that drives me crazy is to see an arrangement where the human hand has not touched and manipulated silk flowers and stems to make them look more natural.  You know you have seen those, too!  They look like someone took them right out of the store and stuck them in a vase or on a wreath, stiff and unnatural!

   

    These mums had such big flower heads, I cut the stems to about four or

five inches.  Regardless of the flower,  you want the stems long enough to weave into the wreath a little to give more places to secure with the hot glue.  

   The stems being a little longer also gives you the option to bend the wire stem and turn the blossoms to the side or to the front.

    The bush of mums included red blooms, too.  Those really didn’t show up so well with the leaves, so I didn’t use them.  Remember to always use an odd number of flower blooms.  An odd number almost always looks more pleasing to the eye. One of the yellow blooms was not used either. 

Discretion

   This brings up another point.  Just because you have forty-five blooms, does not mean you have to use forty-five.  Sometimes less is more!  Have you seen the wreaths where someone just did not know when to stop?

Adding The Blossoms To The Autumnal Wreath

   Allowing room for a bow on the bottom left, place the blossoms on top of the leaves, arrange and rearrange, until perfect.   A burlap bow with these Autumn flowers just seems right.  The rich colors of Fall in combination with the rustic texture of the burlap is classic.

 

   At this point, cut the nut stem into three pieces, too.  Then place on the wreath and the overall look is pretty good, right?   

   Then remove those along with the bow.  Try not to move the flowers too much.  Begin to glue the leaves in strategic places.  Always try to keep the glue in a spot where it will not be seen. 

   Now, glue the leaves and the flowers in place one-by-one.  Then, attach the bow. 

   This ribbon was leftover from another project.  It’s a simple bow.  Make two loops on each side, gather in the middle, and secure with a wire.  Then glue a small piece of the ribbon folded into the center on both sides and glue to the back of the bow, covering the wire.

   After all the flowers, leaves, and ribbons are attached with the hot glue, glue the nut stems in place.   

The Autumnal Wreath Pleases

   I have to admit, I am pretty pleased with the finished wreath.  My mother was home and a short while later, found that she was very pleased with it, too.  She was the first one in her hall to have an Autumn wreath! 

   Hope this inspires you!  Now, you know how simple it is, do you Need a Beautiful and Easy DIY Autumnal Wreath?

   This post is linked with “Oh My Heartsie Girl’s” Friday Feature Linky Party and Friendship Friday Blog Party Social Media Boost on “Create with Joy”.