Autumnal Wreath

Welcome to day 6 of 31 Days of Halloween Crafts! Today I'm going to be making an autumnal wreath using Chinese lanterns and dried amaranth.

I've had this vase of dried flowers for about a year now and I love it, but there's nowhere really to put it that's safe away from my cat, so I decided to turn it into a wreath instead.

 I'm going to be using a grapevine wreath which is great for tucking in dried flowers without having to use a ton of wire.

I actually hate using floral wire because it hurts my fingers, so I'm going to be using some paper wrapped wire instead just to secure little bits and hopefully not use too much of it.

First, I'm going to lay out what I have to kind of get a sense of what I'm working with here.

I'm going to snip off most of the stem so that I'm only tucking a small portion in, just enough to keep it secure.

I'm going to be starting with the really curved stems because it's a lot easier to fit around a curved wreath, and then I'll be using smaller stems to kind of fill in the gaps.

I’m using small pieces of the paper wrapped wire just to secure and bend the branches in strategic spots. I like the variation in color from these branches so I'm going to kind of lean into that to give a sense of design to this. I'm not a floral designer, but I'm using what little experience I have to try to make something that looks cool.

I think I might have gone overboard with the Chinese lanterns, but it's so hard to stop because they're so beautiful.

But I think this wreath is looking a little too pretty, so I'm going to add some amaranth stems to kind of give it more of a creepy vibe, because this is Halloween after all.

Here is the finished piece! The Chinese lanterns are beautiful, but I love that the amaranth kind of has a sinister vibe and makes it feel more appropriate for the season.