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Gold Berry Wreath DIY

CHRISTMAS· CRAFTS

Everyone needs easy and fast crafts to do during the holidays.  I mean, time is tighter this month than the leather pants on Ross’s hiney and nobody wants to spend a single second longer on a project when there are cookies to be baked, presents to be bought, boxes to be wrapped and breath to be checked (just in case of wayward mistletoe!). 

And that is exactly what today’s Christmas post is all about…a very easy, very fast project that looks far more expensive than it actually cost. 

I was originally inspired by this grapevine wreath.  Afterall, it was just another wedding leftover waiting for a little sprucing up. 

So I thought…well, I do have that big ole box of christmas picks.  Most of them were given to me by my mother.  Ya know…Little Debbie.  So maybe, just maybe, I should take a peek in there and see if there was anything I could use that didn’t scream 1896.  That I believe is the year that these were bought by the way.

I really liked the idea of a red poinsetta wreath.  But the color was a little off considering this project would be hung next our very neutral hued den.

Then I saw a few gold ornamental picks, such as this mini-bundle/pinecone pick.  Darling huh? 

But a little too busy.  I didn’t want the wreath to steal our tree’s thunder.  I mean, tree’s have feelings too.  (Tree huggers everywhere just applauded.) 

Then there was this gold pear & apple pick.  But the berries were too stark white for my taste.

And then I found this gold berry pick.  The only problem was that the leaf and the swirlies were a little distracting for me. 

And that is when I saw some picks that I had stashed away in ziploc bags.  They were perfect.  Totally simple.  Gold.  With no swirlies. 

And I had a ton of long ones and short ones. 

I rubbed my belly and shook my patootie in celebration…ya know….cause that is what pregnant people do.

All I had to do was push the picks into the wreath and twist one of the berry stems around one of the branches in the wreath.  I continued until it was packed full.

And then I hung it on a simple wreath hanger on the door to our deck (it’s between our den & our kitchen). 

Literally it took me five minutes.  And the effect?  Totally what I was going for.  Think Elizabeth Taylor at a cocktail party….there is champagne bubbles (or wreath berries), gold baubles (or just wreath berries), and simple but rich looking and glamorous decor (again…just wreath berries).   

So whattya think?  Any wreathers out there?  Anyone tackle their very first wreath this holiday?  What did you use?  Was it leftovers like me from Christmas’ past or new ornaments and ribbon?  Or maybe you have a clever idea for those christmas picks….tell me all about it peeps.  You know I have a penchant for reusing…and I have plenty of stuff that I wanna upcycle this holiday season. 

Oh and we have 8 more days on our ABP Christmas countdown, so stay tuned for more Christmas decor and easy holiday crafts!

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Comments

  1. Why hello Miss Katie, I just started stalking, I mean following your blog.. and I’m impressed. You literally had me laughing out loud (LOL, if you will.) a lot. I love the wreath I have a few of those berries in my garland! 🙂

    I did make a wreath for the first time this year, a dollar store one. Don’t hate till you see it though, I’m not gonna lie, pretty impressive. 😉

    http://lovinmylovebugs.blogspot.com/2009/11/jingle-bells-jingle-bells.html

    Have a Merry Christmas! 🙂
    Rachelle

  3. Love it! This looks way posh and pricey. I am currently attempting to create a holiday wreath from cornhusk. (its a leftover harvest wreath that wasn’t finished in time! But I figure I can spray paint it red and throw some glitter on there for fun… we will have to see how that goes…

  4. Rachelle – love that Eddie Ross ornament wreath…yours is so fun with those colors! Great job girl 🙂

    Liz – Wow – it’s good to know that your mini gift box wreath is holding up so well…after all that work, I would be skeered to put it outside! Either it might melt in the rain or someone might snatch it thinking that mini presents were inside 🙂

    And Hillary – make sure you come back with a link to your finished product – anything spraypainted strikes my interest 🙂

    XO – K

  5. I have a wreath I hang on my front door and have some various fake flowers to change out on it. Well, this year, I had on red and white glittered flowers. Then we had a blizzard. And all but 2 of them blew away. Well, technically, two more are buried on the porch under snow…so I am told. So now it looks pretty pathetic and I keep forgetting to fix it or take the two remaining flowers off!

    I am also making bird seed wreaths for some family members this year for Christmas gifts.

  7. Katie — awesome! I actually have a grapevine wreath much like this in my attic waiting for some love. We just totally re-did our entryway this weekend, and I’d like to give it a little something special . . . will have to try this project!

    <3

  14. Chacha –
    Yup. In fact – I had enough to finish only 95% of the wreath and had to run out to grab about five more – and I found ones that were dead-ringers for the hand-me-downs at Michaels. They were about 50 cents a pick just in case you were wondering. And I am sure that after Christmas, they will even more discounted…so I am planning to grab a bunch more later 🙂

    XO – Katie

  15. Lovely wreath! I’m pretty sure that I saw that for sale at Pottery Barn for about $34. Well done!

    Off-the-subject-question: How do you find the time to not only make these crafts, but photograph them and blog about them and then sometimes respond to comments about them? I’m impressed!

    Off-the-subject-question-#2 (which is kinda none of my business): Are you planning to take maternity leave or are you leaving your job altogether? If you keep working, will you still have time for us in blogland between a job and marriage and a baby and the other things you do in real life?! (Oh please I hope I hope I hope?!)

  16. Oh Karen – I love how we transitioned from Pottery Barn to real life questions. It makes me smile 🙂

    And to answer your questions – it is kinda tough sometimes to squeeze in the crafts…ya know, between the renovations and the 40 hour work week and the family stuff and the church stuff but it is well worth it to me. And yes – it does take a while to photograph the projects and blog about them…but I have always thought that this blog was a way that I could share the stuff in our life with our family (and it just so happens that a few friends joined in too!)….so I don’t see it as a hard thing but more as a fun way to document our goings-ons. Plus I need somewhere to leak my creative juices 🙂 I am sure that everything will get a new priority place when the baby arrives!

    As for my job – I am leaving altogether in February. Both Jeremy & I like to spend money on stuff (like tools and fast food and new work gloves) so we will definitely be tightening our belts to live off a single income…but we both prefer the idea of me being a full-time mom and full-time housewife. Plus I have been really encouraged by all my readers to keep this blog up and running so I fully plan on using this site as a way to keep track of our lives and continue the lines of communication with my family. There might be some growing pains as we enlarge our family but I can promise that ABP will still be alive and well 🙂

    XO – katie

  17. The only time I have ever DIYed a wreath was about 10 years ago when my mother and I hot glued a bunch of Pez toys (the candy dispenser heads) to a wreath. I know, it sounds so weird but my family used to collect Pez so Mom and I thought turning them into a wreath would be cute. Now this just sounds even weirder after I wrote it out. Hm, maybe I should have stuck to “my favorite Xmas wreath is the one my grandma hand-quilted.”

  19. My jaw litterally fell open. I can’t believe you turned picks into that stunning-must-be-expensive wreath!

  23. Katie, grab some wire cutters and cut those picks apart! Then you can use the pretty little pieces you like, and stash the bits you don’t back in the box in case you change your mind next year 🙂

    I took the wire cutters to a long strand of berry garland, and now I’ve got bits of berries to stick in all sort of little decor spots. 🙂

    I’d link you to my homemade wreath, but I haven’t take a picture of it yet :X

  24. I did my first wreath this year! I bought a wire wreath starter from michaels for a couple bucks and used the bottom braches from our real tree. 2 dollar bunch of wire and a few 29cent white glittery wreath trimmings. I only used about 6 of the trimmings but I have tons for next year! And my wreath is awesome, its on my blog and the front door!

  25. I love yours- simple, elegant and oh-so-Christmasy! And what a great treasure chest of decorations you have to choose from.

    I made my first ever wreaths this year to celebrate my first Christmas in our new house. 🙂 One wreath is attempting to go for a traditional Williamsburg vibe while the other is imagining it’s celebrating Christmas by the sea.

    http://tracyandtim.blogspot.com/2009/12/deck-halls.html

  26. Tracy – I love your starfish on the seaside wreath – it makes me wanna go beachside 🙂 Although, I don’t think I could fit this belly into a bathing suit! YIKES!

    And Christi – I am loving your free DIY attitude – way to upcycle that frame girl!

    Thanks for sharing!

    XO – Katie

  28. This is one of the best wreaths I’ve seen this year. I will be hitting up Michael’s after Christmas to score some deals for next year.

  31. Great idea, Katie! I had an old grapevine wreath in our laundry room just itching for some berries! Luckily Michael’s had the berry stems half off yesterday! I did pearly berries and the wreath is oblong/oval. It looks so pretty! Thanks for the idea!

  34. Just wanted to let you know I made my own wreath today inspired by yours! Michaels had some pretty silver berry picks on sale for 30 cents each! I couldn’t wait till next year to display it so it’s now sitting on our coffee table as a centerpiece 🙂

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