In December 2013 I wrote a blog post about a visit to my sister's Rock Garden Alpacas Farm.
During this visit my sister made sure to include a day for shopping. Instead of going to the wonderful fabric store we had visited in 2012 when I visited this time we were going to a local craft store. My sister had told me I was going to love this store as it was like a combination A.C. Moore, Michaels, Joanns, and Homegoods put together.
She was right. I loved it. When we entered the store I knew right away I was in trouble. I didn't think we'd ever get out of the store - let alone out of the Christmas Department. Customers were looking at me as I was laughing and laughing and laughing. My sister had a huge smile on her face knowing "baby sister was right!"
For several years I had put a large wooden old-fashioned Santa, shown in the picture above, that hubby and I had made on the front door for Christmas. Back in 2013 I wanted to change that as I thought the Santa, while wonderful, wasn't big enough and you couldn't really see him behind the storm door from the street.
I wanted something larger only I wasn't sure exactly what that should be. That was until I rounded the corner of the silk floral department and saw the most colorful 3 foot long red and green sparkling poinsettia silk floral stems. They were gorgeous.
I thought they would be perfect for my front door and that three of these silk floral stems in a tower type arrangement would be perfect for the front door. I had also seen some long glittery green grass silk floral stems that I liked and thought that turned upside down they'd make a great finish for the bottom of my long silk floral spray tower. And, of course there would be a large wired floral bow.
I asked "baby" sister what she thought and she said it would be perfect for the front door. With that kind of encouragement how could I not buy the Christmas silk floral? Like I ever really need incentive to buy silk floral....lol
"Baby" sister started laughing and I knew right away what she was laughing about. My carriage was so full I could not fit anything else into the carriage. Of course, when I looked at her carriage I, too, started laughing. Neither one of us could fit anything else into our carriages.
We kept telling ourselves that we needed all these craft supplies and decorations. And, how could we beat these prices? That's what we told ourselves anyway. What would we tell our hubbies? Not that we were really worried about that...lol
As we were standing in line at the register the woman behind me asked me what I was going to do with the 3 glittery silk floral stems. I told her I wanted to create a Christmas floral spray tower for my front door and thought the glittery silk floral stems in a tower arrangement would be perfect. She thought it was a great idea and told me she was going to buy some for her house. Inspiring other crafters - I loved it!
So the first December weekend of 2013 when hubby and I were putting up the Christmas decorations I decided to make the large Christmas floral spray for the front door, which is shown in the picture above. If you would like to read about how I made my tower my Linda's Blog post is here.
Well, over the years the tower has faded from the sun. Given that the front of the house hardly ever gets direct sunlight on it I couldn't understand how this could have faded, but it did. So, I needed to replace it and decided to do that this year.
I decided that instead of a tower I wanted to replace it with a large wreath. I couldn't put a grapevine wreath there as there wasn't enough depth between the front door and the storm door and the only thing that would fit was a straw wreath.
Unlike 2013 when I could shop at a craft store, this year, due to Covid, I had to let my fingers do the walking and order everything I needed online. So, of course, that's what I did. Heavens knows that not being able to physically go to a craft store can't stop a crafter from creating...lol
I had initially wanted a poinsettia wreath with the letters "J-O-Y" spread across the center of the wreath so I ordered three wooden craft letters. Unfortunately, when I ordered the letters all three were available and when the J and Y were delivered I was notified that the "O" was out of stock and they had no idea when it would be back in. Well, you can't have the word "J-O-Y" without the "O." Needless to say, I was annoyed.
However, as all crafters know when they encounter a problem with something they want to create they adapt. So adapt I did...lol
So, instead of a Christmas wreath with "J-O-Y" on it I decided to make a bright and festive Christmas red and white poinsettia front door wreath.
It was very easy to make so I thought you might like to know how I made my Christmas poinsettia front door wreath, which is shown in the picture above. Here's how I made it:
Supplies Needed For The Christmas Poinsettia Front Door Wreath:
2 1/2" Faux Linen Wired Ribbon (For Loops) - At Least 6 Feet
18" Straw Wreath - 1
24” Single Stem Dark Red Poinsettia - 4
2 1/2" Faux Linen Wired Ribbon (For Loops) - At Least 6 Feet
18" Straw Wreath - 1
24” Single Stem Dark Red Poinsettia - 4
24” Single Stem Multi Red Colored Poinsettia - 4 (Which I Did Not Use)
4 - 6 Extra Poinsettia Leaves If Necessary and Available
24” White Poinsettia With Three Flowers With Snow - 3 Stems
17 Gauge Wire
Heavy Duty Wire Cutters
Glue Gun and Low-Temperature Hot Glue Sticks
24” White Poinsettia With Three Flowers With Snow - 3 Stems
17 Gauge Wire
Heavy Duty Wire Cutters
Glue Gun and Low-Temperature Hot Glue Sticks
Scissors
Slim Knife
Pipe Cleaners - 2
Instructions:
When making my silk floral creations the first thing I do is sort the silk floral. So I put the 4 dark red poinsettia in a pile, put the 4 multi colored red poinsettia in a pile and put the three white silk poinsettia with snow in a pile.
In looking at the size of the red poinsettia heads I decided I would only use four as using eight might have caused a problem for me with the depth of the door area I was working with. So, I set the 4 multi colored red poinsettia aside. Like any crafter, extra supplies are never a problem. They always get used somewhere at some later point in time...lol
Usually I create all my silk floral in my basement workshop as it tends to be a messy process. However, it was a little too cold the other day for me to do this so I was working in my living room.
In looking at the18" straw wreath which came wrapped in cellophane and thinking of my living room I decided not to remove the cellophane from the straw wreath. If you've never worked with a straw wreath before you need to know that it can get messy at times. I didn't want to be vacuuming little straw pieces out of my carpet so I left the cellophane on.
The first thing I did was cut a 12 foot long piece of the 2 1/2" wired ribbon and glued one end onto the back of the straw wreath with the hot glue. Then I started tightly wrapping it around the straw wreath.
The 12 feet wasn't enough to wrap the whole wreath so I cut another long piece, glued one of the ends overlapping it where I had stopped and continued wrapping it around the wreath until it was fully covered.
I cut the excess wired ribbon, folded the end over, and glued it to the back of the wreath so it was tight and the end was fully glued to the back of the wreath.
The wreath was going to be heavy so I wanted to make sure the hanger would be able to hold the weight of the wreath and poinsettia. I decided to use 17 gauge wire to create a loop to hang it by.
I cut a 20" long piece of the 17 gauge wire and formed a 1 1/2" long loop in the center and wrapped the ends around the wire to secure the loop. Then I held the wire loop on the back top center where I wanted it on the wreath and wrapped one end around the front to the back in a counter clock wise direction until it met the loop and wrapped that end several times around the wire and left that end dangling for now.
I took the remaining loop and wrapped it around the back to the front to the back in a clockwise direction until it met the loop and wrapped that end several times around the wire. Then I took the two dangling wires and wrapped them around each other until I was satisfied they were secure.
Once they were secure I cut the two ends with the wire cutter and twisted them so they were safe and wouldn't cut me when I was hanging the wreath.
After securing the wire I took the four red poinsettia stems and cut the leaves at the base of the leaf with the scissors and set them aside.
In looking at the red poinsettia stem I realized that it wasn't all one piece and was, instead, several pieces aligned on the stem for the 3d look of the flower. So, I couldn't just cut the head off an glue it to the front of the straw wreath.
So, I decided to insert the poinsettia head and stem into the front of the wreath to secure it. I cut the poinsettia head about 2" down from where the head met the stem with the wire cutters. I needed two inches of stem to insert into my straw wreath to secure the poinsettia on the front of the wreath.
I took the slim knife and inserted it into wired ribbon wrapped around the wreath and the front of the straw wreath where I wanted the red poinsettia to go. I turned the knife a little in a circle to create a small hole in which to insert the 2" stem.
Then I inserted the red silk floral stem and head into the hole I had cut until the bottom of the head met the top of the wreath.
When I was happy with the placement I glued the bottom of the head to the front of the wreath with hot glue.
I placed the other three red poinsettia heads where I wanted them to be and marked the wreath where I needed to cut the other three holes. Once I was happy with the red poinsettia heads inserted into their holes I glued the bottom of the three heads to the front of the wreath with the hot glue.
I wanted to use the poinsettia leaves to cover some of the area on the front of the outside of the wreath under the poinsettia's head. Each of the red poinsettia heads had two large leaves so I knew I had two leaves per head that I could use for this purpose. I glued the top of both the leaves side by side just under the red poinsettia on the front outside of the wreath.
After gluing the 8 red poinsettia leaves to the front outside of the wreath I took the four white poinsettia stems with snow with three white poinsettia heads each and cut the leaves at the base of the leaf where it met the stem with the scissors and set them aside. Each white poinsettia head had one or two snow covered leaves so I had at least 5 or 6 snow covered leaves per stem to utilize.
Then I cut the white poinsettia heads about 1 1/2" down from where the heads met the stem. I needed 1 1/2" inches of stem to insert into my straw wreath to secure the white poinsettia on the front of the wreath in a 3-triangle cluster.
I wanted to place the three white poinsettia stems in-between the red poinsettia's on the front of the wreath and to use the leaves to cover the outside and inside of the wreath just under the white poinsettia heads that I would be placing in a 3-triangle cluster.
I placed two of the white poinsettia heads side by side on the front of the wreath and the third white poinsettia in the center of the two on the inside of the wreath where I wanted the cluster to be. I marked the three white poinsettia's as to where I needed to mark my cuts for inserting the stems.
I took the slim knife and inserted it into wired ribbon wrapped around the wreath and the front of the straw wreath where I wanted the first white poinsettia to go. I turned the knife a little in a circle to create a small hole in which to insert the 1 1/2" stem. I did the same for the two remaining white poinsettia heads for this cluster.
Once I was happy with the white poinsettia heads cluster inserted into their holes I glued the bottom of the three heads to the front of the wreath with the hot glue.
I wanted to use the white poinsettia leaves to cover some of the area on the front of the outside and inside of the wreath under the white poinsettia cluster. I had five or six leaves per cluster that I could use for this purpose. When I was happy with their placement I glued the top of the leaves under the cluster heads on the outside and inside of the wreath with hot glue.
I placed the other three white poinsettia heads where I wanted them to be on the next cluster and marked the wreath where I needed to cut the other three holes. Once I was happy with the white poinsettia heads inserted into their holes I glued the bottom of the three heads to the front of the wreath for this cluster with the hot glue and moved on to the other two white poinsettia clusters.
Like the first white poinsettia cluster, I wanted to use the white poinsettia leaves to cover some of the area on the front of the outside and inside of the wreath under the white poinsettia clusters. Once again, I had five or six leaves per cluster that I could use for this purpose. When I was happy with their placement in the three clusters I glued the top of the leaves under the cluster heads on the outside and inside of the wreath with hot glue.
After I was finished with the white clusters I looked at my wreath to see if I had any holes or gaps along the outside or inside of the wreaths. I was hoping that I wouldn't have any gaps but found I had a few gaps.
As a crafter I never throw anything away that I know might be helpful on some future creation so I knew I had a few extra poinsettia leaves in my crafting area in the basement. I went down to the basement and found six I could use and cut them at the top of each leaf where it met the stem with the scissors.
Then I glued the top of each of the six extra leaves I had under the red poinsettia's where I had a few gaps.
I usually put a large bow on the top or bottom of my wreaths but didn't think a large bow would be good for the design of this wreath.
Instead I decided to create four loopy clusters in-between each of the red poinsettia's and white poinsettia's on the front of the bow. First I cut the two pipe cleaners in half and set them aside.
Then I cut four 18" long sections of the 2 1/2" wired ribbon. I took the first 18" long section and fashioned it into four loops - two on the top and two on the bottom.
I formed the first loop of 2" on each side and while holding the bottom of the end piece and the center of the other piece of the loop I twisted it. Then I formed the second loop of 2" on each side and while holding the center of the two loops now I twisted it. Then I formed the third loop of 2" on each side and while holding the center of the loop three loops twisted it. Finally, I formed the fourth loop of 2" on each side and while holding the center twisted it once more. Then holding the center I tightly wrapped one of the pipe cleaners around the center, cut the end of the ribbon, and cut the ends of the pipe cleaner.
Following these instructions I created three more loopy clusters. I wanted all four loops to be facing in the same direction on the front of the wreath in a cluster so I folded the loops in half at the center where the pipe cleaner was.
Using the hot glue I glued the center of the loops on the right side of each of the four red poinsettia's on the front of the wreath, as shown in the picture above.
I looked at my wreath to make sure I was happy with it. I was happy with the way it turned out so I hung my Christmas poinsettia wreath from the front door.
I love how it looks and hope you do too.
I also created a free e-book for you showing how I made my Poinsettia Front Door Wreath.
To view and download my free e-book please CLICK HERE. You'll be brought to Google Drive where you can view my free e-book. Then just download my free .pdf e-book by clicking on the down arrow in the top center.
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