A balsam wreath Cooperative Extension

Get 3-foot branches of white pine or balsam fir. Trim them to about 6 inches. Get floral wire at a craft or floral shop.

Pick out a few brightly colored items such as berries, holly and pinecones.

Get a sturdy wire coat hanger and fashion it into a circle. Or you can buy wire frames in different shapes and sizes at your local craft or floral shop.

Attach floral wire to a place on the wreath frame. Take one end of the wire and twist it around the frame to hook it. Don’t cut it! You’ll be using one long strand of wire the entire time.

Get a bundle of the evergreen branches with the green tips all at one end and the stems at the other. Place them against the frame where the floral wire is attached. Wrap your floral wire securely around just the stems and the frame at least three times. Don’t cut the wire!

Take a second bundle and cover the stems of the first bundle with it, at a slight diagonal. Using the same wire, hidden under the second bundle, wrap the stems of the second bundle tightly around the frame at least three times. Keep on adding same-sized bundles until you’ve gone full circle around the wire frame.

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For the last bundle, tuck the stems under the greenery of the first bundle you attached, and secure the stems to the frame with wire as you did with the other bundles. Adjust the greenery and stems as necessary.

Finish off the wire. Tuck it under the nearest bundle, secure it with a knot, and cut. Leave a few extra inches before cutting the end. If you’d like to make a hanger, form a loop at the end of the wire and twist it around itself.

Use new pieces of wire to affix the ends of pinecones and berries to the wreath. Tie a knot in each piece when you are finished.

For more on wreath making, go to www.extension.umaine.edu/publications/7012e/

Source: Wikihow.com

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