Ideas for Christmas wreaths (photo)

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

The tradition of decorating the house with Christmas wreaths came to us from Western countries. Abroad, it is customary to decorate the front doors of the house on the eve of the New Year and Christmas in this way. The design of the wreath is entirely up to the creator. It can be Christmas tree branches with cones, New Year's toys, tinsel with bows and flowers. In this article, we will consider how to make a Christmas wreath using improvised materials. Let's define the principles of design and decoration of the base for the wreath.

Christmas wreath and its role

The creator of the New Year's wreath is Johann Wiehern. He lived in Hamburg and was a we althy man. A stable financial position allowed Johann to help orphans. The kids were looking forward to the coming of the holiday and constantly asked their guardian when the long-awaited day of Christmas would come. Then Johannhung a wagon wheel on the door and placed 24 candles on it: 20 red and 4 white. Every day, the kids, together with Johann, lit one red candle, and on Sunday - a white one. It was a kind of calendar that people eventually transformed into a Christmas wreath with various types of decor.

The wreath has become a symbol of Christmas and New Year. Even in Russia, such an attribute is increasingly used for decor and decoration of housing on the eve of the winter holidays. In the photo - a Christmas wreath made of Christmas tree branches and cones. Russian craftswomen came up with a lot of ways to make and decorate a wreath, let's look at some of them.

Materials and tools for making a wreath

First decide on the design of the Christmas wreath. You may want to make it from natural materials: natural pine or spruce branches. In this case, you need to prepare the necessary raw materials in advance. To decorate a wreath, you may need the following materials:

• cones of pine or spruce;
• satin ribbon of different widths and colors;
• decorative branches and berries;
• christmas toys;
• artificial snow;
• sequins, rhinestones;
• foamiran;
• LED strips or Christmas garlands;
• large beads and beads.

To process and combine materials into one composition, you will need some equipment:

• scissors;
• PVA glue;
• glue gun and sticks;
• paint;
• brushes;
• stationery knife;
• iron.

Be sure to observesafety precautions when working with sharp tools and a glue gun. The temperature of the glue that is supplied from the gun is quite high. Contact with the adhesive mass can cause skin burns.

Wreath base

The basis of the wreath should be dense and voluminous. In this case, it will be convenient to attach decorative elements. The easiest option is to buy a base, if you want to save money, then you can make it from scrap materials. Let's take a look at some of them.

1. Penoplex, polyfoam. It’s good if you have a sheet of foam or polystyrene. This material will make an ideal base for a wreath. Mark the outline of the wreath on the sheet, and cut it out with a clerical knife. If necessary, fold several layers of material for a voluminous base.
2. Thick wire and newsprint. Make a rigid circle frame from the wire. From the newspaper, make voluminous rods by crushing. Wrap these rods around the wire frame so that you get a three-dimensional ring. To securely fix the paper on the wire frame, secure the structure with tape around the entire contour.
3. Insulation for pipes. Very handy base material. The technology is simple - connect the ends of the insulation to each other using tape or a glue gun. You will get an even dense circle that can be decorated.

If you decide to make a Christmas wreath from natural branches, then you can not use the base. The interlacing of branches will give a strong frame of the desired shape.

Christmas wreath fromcones

Cones are a great option for decorating any element of the New Year theme. For decor, you can use pine and spruce cones. To make them look more festive, apply acrylic white paint or structural gel to their outer side. Lightly dust the scales with a paint and glitter sponge. If you use PVA glue and s alt, you will get the effect of snow, which evenly settled on the exposed parts.

To form a composition, place large cones first, then smaller ones. Place pale gray or silver-plated decorative sprigs between the buds. You can add large silver leaves and berries to this composition. All decor elements should be in the same style: no bright colors, only frosty winter motifs.

When distributing the elements, make sure that the attachment points of the cones are covered with leaves and branches. The base and internal joints must be masked.

Wreath of foamiran

Foamiran is a very convenient material for creating a Christmas wreath. A master class on working with foamiran is in the public domain. From foamiran, you can make flowers of any complexity, make spruce branches.

The method of making elements from this material is simple. First, cut out the necessary stencils: plant petals, leaves. We heat the material on the iron, it becomes softer and more plastic, we give the necessary shape. The shape can be given with the help of special mods -relief stencils. We just put a preheated foamiran blank of the desired shape on the mod and press it. Foamiran will take the form of a mod when solidified. It is very convenient to use mods for making embossed sheets and petals. If everything is done carefully, then very realistic flowers will turn out. You can paint the material with paints, make accents and shadows where necessary.

To make a branch of a Christmas tree or pine, take a strip of foamiran 1.5-2 cm wide and make cuts, leaving 1-2 mm at the edge. Heat the workpiece on the iron so that the needles become sharp, rounded. Wrap the wire around. It is better to fasten decorative elements from foamiran with a glue gun.

Wreath from an old sweater

It is better to choose two different solid color sweaters with a large knit. Clean the surface of the pellets so that it is smooth and without flaws. It is more convenient to take the sleeves, as they already have the desired shape. Cut them crosswise into pieces of 6-7 cm.

The base should be the right width so that the elements cut from the sleeves do not hang. If necessary, you can adjust the width of knitted parts. Put on the parts so that the colors are symmetrical on the right and left sides of the workpiece. Multi-colored knitted elements should alternate with each other. Fastening knitting to the base is easier to do with a glue gun. We close the bottom and top with a piece of fabric with curved edges.

To decorate the base of knitted elements, you can use cones, Christmas tree decorative twigs or Christmas toys. Make such decor in only onebase, top or bottom. Do not load the composition with an abundance and variety of decor. The colors of the decor elements should be the same as the knitting parts of the sweater. If you have completed all the steps of the instructions step by step, the Christmas wreath will turn out to be original and unusual.

Wreath of Christmas balls

For this design, you will need Christmas balls with a diameter of 5-6 cm. You can take toys of several colors that blend harmoniously with each other. Some of the balls can be sprayed or sparkled. You can take several large balls, medium and small.

Use a glue gun or just a thick rope to attach the balls. Tie the balls to the base using the hanging hooks. The location of the balls should be uniform, evenly distribute Christmas toys of different colors over the base.

The empty space between the balls, if desired, can be filled with decorative twigs or small cones. Tie the twigs with a rope that secures the balls to the base, or fix with glue. Apply glitter to some decorations.

At the top of the composition, place a large bow of transparent ribbon. You can use a wide satin ribbon in combination with a transparent material. The color of the ribbon should be in harmony with the Christmas decorations. Apply a layer of decorative snow to the elements of the composition.

Wreath of decorative twigs

It is better to choose decorative branches that are made onwire base, they are more convenient to use. The branch itself should look elegant, bright. If there is not enough decor on the branches, you can glue additional elements in the form of rhinestones or berries.

When making a Christmas wreath with your own hands step by step from branches, you can not use the base. The product will be voluminous due to branches tightly intertwined in a circle. Only the tips of the branches will be visible from above. The direction of the branches must be the same. You can fasten them with a thin wire. Use several types of branches in your work. The composition will look prettier if it includes different types of decor.

You can also use natural branches to create a wreath. The rods must be flexible, easily deformable. In this case, it is better to use birch or willow branches. We start weaving immediately after collecting fresh branches, as over time they lose plasticity and break when bent or twisted.

Weave a Christmas tree garland into the wreath. Position it so that the bulbs are evenly spaced across the area of the wreath.

Wreath of tinsel and artificial branches

If you want to get a bright and fluffy Christmas wreath, then use tinsel and decorative spruce and pine branches for decoration. This wreath design is classic.

On the base, first attach decorative pine or spruce branches with glue, then evenly place pieces of tinsel on it. The width of the tinsel should not exceed 3-4 cm. You can take green orsilver color. The length of branches and tinsel should not exceed 10 cm. Continue to fasten the elements until a dense and lush surface is formed. Keep an even distribution of elements. Attach a few large buds to the base so that the branches half hide them. Branches with red berries can be used as bright accents.

Garland on the New Year's wreath

Shining Christmas wreath will look much more spectacular, especially in a dark room. The lighting system will be powered by 220 V, so follow the safety precautions during installation. How to make a Christmas wreath with your own hands so that it is backlit? It's very simple. To create such a decor, use a regular Christmas tree garland. It is better to take a single color option: warm or cold white.

So that the wires do not stick out and do not spoil the overall picture, you need to mount the garland before fixing other decorative elements. Glue the garland to the base using a zigzag laying method, fix the wires with a glue gun. Attach decorative elements on top of the garland, filling the entire space of the base. Do not be afraid to contact bulbs with flammable materials, the incandescent temperature of the bulbs will not cause a fire.

Imitation of snow on decorative elements

To give the Christmas wreath an elegant winter look, you need to create accents on the tips of the decorative elements in the form of snow. For these purposes, you can use differentmaterials:

1. Acrylic paint. Use a sponge to apply it. This will make the texture look more natural.
2. Glitters. They are sold in the form of tubes. They have the appearance of a gel with sparkles. When dry, they form an iridescent surface.
3. Crystal paste. Consists of clear acrylic gel and small glass beads. After drying, a structure similar to small ice floes is obtained.
4. Sculpting gel. It has a viscous base, it is easy to apply. As it solidifies, it forms an ice-like structure.
5. PVA glue and s alt. We generously lubricate the element that we plan to cover with snow with glue. Then dip in s alt. When dry, the s alt will give a grainy snow structure, and the glue will give a white color.
6. PVA glue and foam. The sequence of actions is similar to that in the previous paragraph.

In closing

In the pre-Christmas time, it is customary not only to set up a wreath, but also to make four candles for it, which are lit every Sunday before Christmas. This tradition is supported not only by Europeans, but also by many Russian families.