How to Make a Giant Holiday Wreath

Here's a fun project your kids are sure to enjoy - creating a giant wreath for the holidays!

Recently we've been experiencing some warmer (than usual) temperatures and I thought it would be great for my kids to spend more time outside. With the holidays around the corner, I asked my daughters about making some holiday decorations. We decided to create a huge Christmas wreath to put up on the house. It turned out to be a great family activity - and it only took a few hours to complete, including stringing the lights. The wreath is fairly inexpensive. You'll need some 1/2" PVC conduit, garden twine, and cuttings from the yard.

Here are the steps for building your own super-sized wreath this season:

1. First, purchase two sections of eight-foot long ½” PVC electrical conduit piping. The two sections cost about three dollars, and don’t worry about PVC cement, you won’t need it.

2. Next, as a family, gather cuttings from your yard. We found arborvitae, spruce, hemlock, winterberry, boxwood, and some red-twig dogwood.

3. Spend some time quizzing the kids on plant identification. Make sure they are able to identify the cuttings and varieties you plan on using for your wreath. A little nature education can, and should be included with your garden activities.

4. Have your kids assemble the two PVC sections together. The ½” electrical conduit does not need to be glued together, the two ends will hold in-place well without any adhesives. Once assembled you will have a 7-foot diameter circle.

5. Before assembling your cuttings to the PVC frame, you will need to hula-hoop for awhile. Once my two girls assembled the frame, my oldest daughter wanted to play hula-hoop with the assembled structure. I actually thought that the frame was way too large to even attempt this, but I was quickly proven wrong! Of course hula-hooping can significantly delay the progress of your wreath making, but I realized that after hunting through our yard for cuttings, and quizzing my daughters on plant varieties, this was actually a great step to include.

6. Assemble your greens and cuttings to the PVC frame. I recommend using garden twine, or green-colored twist ties to assemble the cuttings. If you have a variety of plant cuttings, be sure to evenly space your assorted varieties around the entire frame.

7.Once you’re done assembling your greens and colorful deciduous materials, you can add additional holiday decorations, lights, even a big bow to compliment your seasonal wreath. Make sure you put everything you can on the wreath before hanging it up; it can be difficult to add additional décor while the wreath is on display.

8. Finally, you will want to secure your wreath to a wall. Use the “U”-shaped brackets that are designed for the PVC conduit as anchors for your frame. If you are placing your finished wreath indoors, be sure to place your brackets to align with the studs behind the drywall to properly secure your frame

Making your own gigantic holiday wreath can obviously be quite fun; a great tradition to carry from year to year. Have a great holiday, from all of us at the National Gardening Association!