Making an advent wreath

Hi all! I hope you had a good weekend, and that your weekend is off to a good start! :) I had so much fun this past Sunday putting my little Advent wreath together, and thought I'd show you how I did it, in case anyone wants to make one. It's not too late to do it; there are still three more candles to light! In any case, here is how I went about it...


I started with a Advent candle holder my son had made at Sunday school. He was going to stain it, but didn't get to it. (Maybe next year!) I saw metal Advent candle holders at Walmart last week. I think they had some fake greenery attached to it. If so, that is even better, because you can just add to it from there! For me, I didn't glue any of this together, because I wanted to be able to pack it all away separately. We have limited storage space, so it will help with that. I will tell how you can put it together in a more permanent way as well. :)

I used a 9' garland I found at Michaels, and used about two thirds of it by the time I was done. Figure out how much it will take to make a circle of garland around the candle holder, then use wire cutters to cut it. Then circle the cut piece of garland around the wreath holder, and twist the ends together. Even if you want it stuck together, at this point, I would keep this as a separate piece, but you could use glue to attach it. There are so many different kinds of glue for different surfaces at most any craft store, so the right kind shouldn't be difficult to find.

Then figure out how much of the garland you'll need to form another circle that will go right over where the candles will go. You will need to remove the candles to do this. After this is in place, you can either use wire or glue to attach it permanently, or not! :) Next, form a small circle for the very inside of your "wreath", making sure your center candle (usually a pillar) will fit inside. If you are using a metal candle holder, usually these have the wreath part in the very center, so you may or may not need this. But maybe you will want to add a little more! :)




The most fun part is adding whatever other greenery or berries or embellishments your heart desires! I added some lighter green eucalyptus (sp?) first, just poking it here and there and trying to make it look "balanced". (It looks more balanced in person!)





Then I added my center pillar candle, one I had on hand, and loved the way the color of it ended up working out with the rest of my wreath, but it's a little on the short side, so we'll tuck a little block of wood underneath it before next week!




I tucked in some berries, a little here, a little there. I used the berry branches I found at Michaels, and just snipped them into smaller bits of berries. If you like, you can glue your little additions with a hot glue gun, or else use little pieces of wire...





When you are done adding everything you want and you're happy with how it looks...you're finished with your very own Advent wreath! Well, almost...





Lighting it is the very best part, of course! :) Enjoy!