Fall Straw Wreath

Fall is the perfect time for straw wreaths. I’ll admit, I’m partial to grapevine wreaths most any time of the year.

But for Fall, the texture and color of straw is like . . . well, almost like hanging a bale of hay on your door.

Or wall.

Or any other place, for that matter.

I’ve hung wreaths on mirrors, windows, and even set them flat on a table as a centerpiece.

This guy is hanging on my front porch though.

Wanna see how easy it was to make him?

The fun thing about making wreaths is just about anything goes. You can use flowers or not, ribbon or not. You can decorate the entire wreath, or just part.

I tend to decorate just a portion because I want the base to show thru.

I had some burlap ribbon left over from last year. I think I got it at Michael’s.

I made a simple two loop bow and then scrunched the tails up here and there.

Take a small piece of 20 gauge wire, form it into a horseshoe shape and use it as a pick to attach the burlap ribbon.

Next, create the overall height and width of the wreath with your line flowers. Line flowers can be anything long – eucalyptus, cattails or wheat work well for Fall.

Because straw wreaths are so compact it’s not absolutely necessary to hot glue the ends, but it’s a good idea.

A good tip is to arrange all of your line flowers first, then go back and hot glue them in, one by one.

Once you’ve created the basic ‘line’, add your largest flowers – the ‘focal’ flowers.

These are simply dollar store mums that came in a ‘bush’ that I clipped apart into separate stems.

Next, fill in with smaller flowers or ‘ornamentals’.

These are from the dollar store too and were hot glued onto the wreath.

Note: I always use low-temp glue. After many, many severe burns from high temp glue, I only use low temp. It’s not as strong or durable but my fingers appreciate it.

Add some different types of ribbon, if you have it.

A few loops of sheer dollar store ribbon add some more color. The raffia ties the floral decoration back to the straw wreath base.

Have you used raffia before? It can drive you a little nuts.

I grab a few strands, make the bow or whatever I want, then I split the strands to give a more airy appearance.

It’s a fun way to add some color to your porch . . . or wherever.

My post, How To Make a Fall Wreath, has a lot more tips and design principles if you haven’t made a wreath yet.

If you have, what kind did you make? Do you hang wreaths in other places than your front door?

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Supply List

• Straw Wreath
• Glue gun (low temp)
• Wire cutters
• Scissors
• 20 gauge wire
• burlap ribbon
• line flowers such as eucalyptus, cattails or wheat
• focal flowers, about 2-1/2 to 3” in diameter
• filler flowers
• ornamentals
• raffia

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Colleen

about Colleen

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