Christmas Crafts: Giant Window Wreaths

Outdoor Wreath TutorialWhen we lived in New Hampshire I fell totally in love with the winter decor. Fresh boughs cut straight from the trees, greenery hung on bright red doors, and wreaths hung in the middle of every window. This house has two big windows just begging to have a wreath in the middle of them, but without a backyard full of pine trees to use, those suckers are crazy expensive. I found a fake one at Costco that was over $100, and even the plain one at Michael’s was over $70. The cheapskate in me just could not be OK with that, so I went back to the hardware store and came up with a way to make a giant wreath for $20.

Outdoor Wreath Tutorial Step 1This is 4 inch wide drainage pipe. If you’ve ever seen this before, it’s probably been in a stack at a construction site. It’s a little heavy duty for the average home owner, but since it’s plastic that can easily bend into a circle, it’s perfect for us. I bought an 8 foot length and used a box cutter to cut it in half to make two four foot pieces which was enough for two wreaths. The middle piece is a coupler, which I found right next to those pipes in the contractor section of the hardware store. Each end of the pipe snaps into one end of the coupler and you don’t have to glue or anything. It will hold it super tight.

Outdoor Wreath Tutorial Step 2With your wreath shape made, it’s time to spray paint. When I’m painting plastic I always start with a primer coat. And then I followed it up with a hunter green. While I had the spray paint out I also spray painted the tips of my garland with a little gold, just to add some sparkle and bring in a little depth of color to the wreath.

Outdoor Wreath Tutorial Step 3Wrap the garland around your pipe, twisting the ends together to hold it in place. I just used some cheap garland I inherited so my wreaths had a couple of bald spots, which is where the spray paint came in handy. You could always use more garland and wrap it tighter around. To hang it I cut a piece of ribbon long enough that the wreath would hit the center of the window when hung from the trim. This is also a great way to hide those bald spots – just put the ribbon right over it.

Outdoor Wreath Tutorial Step 4I tied another piece of ribbon into a simple bow with long hanging tails, and then wrapped the hanger around it before nailing it into the trim. Hanging it this way hides the nail and gives the bow a pretty center strip instead of a knot.

Outdoor Wreath Craft ProjectI had planned on tying glittery bows and ornaments onto the wreath, but I really loved the simplicity of it, so I left all the froofery alone. Maybe in future years when I’m ready for a spruce up, but right now I just love looking at the unadorned *ahem* greenery and dreaming of snowy New Hampshire.

3 thoughts on “Christmas Crafts: Giant Window Wreaths

  1. This giant window wreaths will definitely be on my list, it would be a perfect gift for your friends. The other thing I like about it is that it is quite easy to do base on your tutorial.

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