How to make a wreath for $5 using items from the dollar store.

We have double front doors and I love decorating them with seasonal wreaths. Because I quickly discovered that buying just one pre-made wreath can be really expensive (about $40 -$60) at places like JoAnn Fabric or Michael’s, even with a coupon, buying 2 would be way out of my decorating budget, so I made my own, spending $11 for 2 wreaths, using only items from the dollar store.

Here is what I used:

• 2 Styrofoam wreaths
• A package of 2 raffia rolls (I only used one for both wreaths)
• 8 separate bunches of flowers (I had some flowers left over)

Items I already had on hand:

• needle-nosed pliers with built-in wire cutter
• stapler/staples

How to make a wreath:

I decided to make them so that the top was just wrapped in raffia and the bottom had the flowers because I wasn’t sure if I’d have enough raffia.  It turns out I only used 1 roll of raffia for wrapping both wreath tops, so I could have completely wrapped both wreaths. Now I know I can do that next time, if I want to.

Cut the flowers to size.

I used the needle-nosed pliers to cut the stems.  I made the stems about 1-2 inches long. That way, they didn’t poke all the way through the wreath.

Add the flowers.

The fun part was adding the flowers. There were several really long stems with purple flowers that I knew I wanted to have sticking up at the top.  I also had several stems with hanging clusters of blue flowers that I wanted at the bottom. So, I started in the bottom center with a large flower, added the blue clusters on either side and then kept adding different size and color flowers up the sides until it was about halfway filled. Then I topped it off with the long purple sprigs at the top.

Then I added the raffia.

So for the first piece of raffia, I simply tied it around the wreath and started wrapping it. When I got to the end of one piece of raffia, I simply tied another piece to it and kept going.  I tried to make sure that most of those knots were in the back, but if they weren’t, I covered the “tails” of the knot with the next few rows of raffia. Hey, I am all about EASY crafts. 🙂

How to keep the raffia in place.

As I wrapped the wreath, the raffia slid around a bit, so when I was almost done with the wrapping, I took some time to readjust the raffia. That way, none of the green styrofoam showed through.

When I had all of the green covered, I simply stapled the last bit right onto the wreath, so it would stay tightly wound.

Note: On the second wreath, I experimented and wrapped the raffia on the top half of the wreath FIRST and then added the flowers afterwards.

I thought that would be much easier, but really I didn’t find it better one way over the other.  So, start with whichever you prefer, wrapping the raffia first or adding the flowers first.

As I mentioned earlier, since I did have another whole roll of raffia left over, I think in the future I will actually wrap the whole wreath first, and then add the other items.  That way, no one will see any green foam no matter which way the wreath is viewed.

Finishing touches.

Since this was my first experiment, I realized my wreaths were a bit small. There were larger wreaths at the store, but when I was in the store, I thought they’d be TOO big, so I opted for the smaller ones. Oh well, now I know! 🙂

I was thinking I could add a burlap bow, but I didn’t pick up any burlap ribbon.  (Although they did have it at the dollar store.) And, to tell the truth, I have never been good at making bows.

How to make a burlap bow.

I recently found this great tutorial that I love because you just cut and staple the burlap to make a beautiful bow, so hopefully my future bows will be awesome!  You might find this useful, too.

Adding raffia streamers for more drama.

Because I wanted them to seem bigger on my doors, I added tied bunches of long pieces of raffia to each wreath.  I simply looped them over one of the bottom flowers and they stayed tucked in nice and neat.  I liked the look, and so that’s how they stayed.

Here is what the finished wreaths looked like close up.

Final thoughts.

I have some fall flowers and heavy twine tucked away, and I plan to pull those out soon to create a more “Fall-ish” wreath.  I’ll let you know how that goes, too!

I do think my $5 wreaths turned out quite well for my first experiment, and spending $11 and having the fun of creating them myself, beats paying $80-120 any day.

Here is the view of my front doors from the sidewalk. (Sorry the picture is dark. Believe it or not, it’s not sunny in sunny Florida today…)

So, take a trip to the dollar store, grab some foam wreaths and flowers and make your own $5 wreath!  It really is fun! Reply with a picture when you’re done.  I’d love to see your masterpiece!

And if you are looking for more inspiration, here is a post I did on how to make an easy DIY patriotic wreath from flip flops for $6.00.

Happy crafting!

~ Pam