Take me to the Steps

I demonstrate how I make a wreath using Xmas tree clippings and eucalyptus, and adding a string of storebought battery-powered LED lights. You can add other clippings and decor of your own, and you can probably make your own wreath ring as a base, but this is how I learned to do it on the day after Thanksgiving 2007 at Costanoa, a camp north of Santa Cruz, California.

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Project Steps

Place a small twig on the ring and then wrap a little bit of green florist’s wire to keep it in place. I think I just did one or two wraps here. I got my twigs at our local Christmas tree lot. It seems they strip some of the lower branches to make the trees more attractive to buyers.

Continue adding branches rotating around the ring in the same direction.

Add other foliage. I had some eucalyptus branches left over from a bouquet a neighbor gave me which I recycled into the wreath. All sorts of evergreen needle-ful branches in your neighborhood can work, or anything that dries nicely.

I had a string of mini LED lights that I got in a train store on sale last year after the holidays, so I thought it would be nice to add those. Since they are uni-directional, I was careful to distribute them so that the lights would be pointing out. I’m sure it’d be trivial to make a small string of battery-operated LEDs to add to the wreath.

I tied a ribbon onto the wreath to keep the battery pack in place.

Add to your front door. I also saw a super-magnet hanger online that you could DIY to hang the wreath through single-pane glass doors if you don’t want to add a nail to your door. Happy holidays!