Creating Custom Wreaths

This is a sample of one of our embellished wreaths, Cape Cod style.

To embellish your own, start with a plain balsam wreath.

Cut some 6" long pieces of other, fresh greens. Use a variety of colors and textures. At Country Garden we like how the back of the Port Orford Cedar and the Blueberry Juniper look against the dark green of the balsam.

Wrap a wire around the bundle of greens and stick the ends underneath the balsam foliage so that the ends of your bundle are hidden. Tie the wire around the back of the wreath tightly so that the bundle of fresh greens is held securely against the balsam. Place at least three of these on the wreath, spaced evenly.

Start decorating with any cones you might want. Here I've used three cones on a plastic pic but you could wire your own. (Instructions for that below.) Cones always look good in groups of 3, but you could use larger ones singly as well. Place the cones at the base of your fresh greens bundle and secure them tightly. At Country Garden we like to wire all our embellishments onto our wreaths instead of using glue. Wiring allows us to tightly secure all the embellishments so that the wreath looks better and holds up well.

After the cones are in place add berries, artificial flowers or other decor. On this wreath I am wiring in some red berries. You could use sprigs of berried holly instead of artificial berries.

Here's how the wreath looks with three groups of cones and berries. We could stop right here and it would be lovely...but sometimes more is more, so we'll add some white pine cones.

White pine cones are common in our area and are easy to attach on leaves. We love how the sap on the outside makes the cone look frosted.

To wire any pinecone, take a piece of wire and work it into the bottom of the cone, wrapping it all around in a way that hides the wire. Twist the wire a couple of times to secure it. You can then tie the cone securely around the wreath.

Here's how the wreath looks after the white pine cones were added.

A red bow is added and the wreath is finished!