This post was originally published on DIY Network’s blog Made + Remade in May 2012.
In moments of sheer happiness, I skip through nurseries, florist shops, and untamed fields clinging to bouquets of all of my favorite flowers. Getting a good visual? I’m like a kid in a candy shop, and no allergies in the world could stop me from appreciating the dainty petals and bright colors of a pretty flower.
Say what you will about accenting the door with a pretty wreath. Some say “only during the holidays,” others claim they’re too expensive or difficult to maintain (say, if they’re real pine and get needles everywhere). Even more just claim their door isn’t suitable for an arrangement. Following my own instincts, I’ve kept a wreath of some sort on the door all year around since I moved into my house, but for a variety of reasons: first, it was to mask a door that I didn’t like, and then later, to distract from a glaringly inadequate porch, and finally and most recently, I decorate the door in hopes that if visitor is looking at the door, they’re going to be less inclined to notice that my driveway is turning from asphalt to black sand. That’s another issue for another day and another post, but you get the idea of how important it is for me to grasp at every opportunity to improve the curb appeal.
But this week’s adventure was a little different as I explored and bought a completely different type of bouquet with the ultimate intention of reinterpreting it to be a fresh piece of front door decor.
Different in what way, you ask so curiously?
Because it’s comprised of what I’ve found to be the most amazing, most realistic faux-blossoms that I’ve ever laid my eyes and fingertips on. I’m talkin’ immeasurably more realistic than the varieties you can find at the bigger distributors, with noticeable weight and texture to each branch and petal. They’re all from a shop in Rochester, NY, Preferred Plants.
Left to right, you’re seeing faux-Hops, faux-Dianthus, faux-Cosmos, and faux-Lilies.
With exception of the Lily, I chose light colored blossoms that would stand out against the eggplant purple paint on my front door. Also, I considered that after long-term sun exposure, the blossoms might start to fade, and I didn’t want to put all of my eggs in one basket. If the Lily goes, it’s only a 25% loss, and it still might not even look all that bad. With the overall intention to make the wreath look a little like a bouquet of wildflowers that I’d pulled from a field, the flowers selected had a light and delicate appearance. The total investment was only $25, still markably less than most wreaths you’d find pre-made.
In preparation for assembling my newest piece of front door decor, I gathered a grapevine wreath form that I already had on hand; believe it or not, it was just something my dad had harvested straight from his property and wrapped up to contain loose ends. Naturally spiraling and full of texture, it had been left it in the basement to dry thoroughly last winter, and was now ready to decorate.
Without even daring to trim the long stems of each flower, I started wrapping the maleable wired stem around the wreath itself like a pipe cleaner. Shown here, you can see the ends of where I was wrapping the first two stems, but those will tuck right in and be out of sight and poking radius.
By staggering the placement of each stem, I was able to position the bouquet in a way that it wrapped up the right side of the wreath.
With a simple hook, I hung the grapevine and adjusted the wreath on the front door. I love how simple the design is.
Note: If you’re interested in checking out other wreaths I’ve made, check them out for yourself:
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