Wreath Made From Sagebrush - Tutorial

Here is the wreath I made for the 'SPRING WREATH' challenge on Ucreate. Here are the rules:

1. Use this month’s tutorial

2.Take a photo of your finished wreath.

3. Email photo to ucreatecrafts@gmail.com and title it “Create With Me”. Make sure to include your name and/or link you want displayed!

5. Due date for photos is March 30th.

So I checked out the tutorial from the Stone Gable blog - thought about it for a while- and came up with this idea. 

The tutorial uses a purchased twiggy willow wreath - but I decided to make my own twiggy wreath out of something very abundant in my neck of the woods - SAGEBRUSH. Here is how I made my own twiggy wreath...

I picked about two grocery bags full of sagebrush - cutting the stems approximately 12 inches long - with some a little smaller and some a little bigger to get a variety of sizes.

I took an 'undesirable' hanger apart and secured the ends together to make a wire wreath.

I made sure it would fit with the grapevine wreath that I am going to attach it to later.

I grouped together 2 or 3 of the sagebrush stems - usually a large, medium and small size depending on the thickness of the stems . Secure bunch together with wire leaving enough wire to wrap bunch around the coat hanger. I used silver light gauge wire that you can buy at $ stores - but of course floral wire is better because it is green. I figured the sagebrush had a silver tinge to it so it would be okay. If I had floral wire on hand I would have used that. 

Position bunch on coat hanger wrapping it several times around - securing stems to the wire wreath (coat hanger). 

Cut wire if needed or fold it under with pliers. I used pliers to wrap wire around the wreath as I found I got the bunch tighter with the pliers than without them.  

Continue making bunches  and securing them on the wire wreath - overlapping the previous bunch until the wreath is covered. Some spots I had to secure the top of the bunches to the bottom of the previous bunch - but I did that after I secured that bunch to the wreath. 

I had made a eucalyptus wreath years ago, and I used this technique - way cheaper than buying one - and it is an education when you make it.

When you have attached twiggy bunches all the way around the wreath -  attach your twiggy wreath to the grapevine wreath. The tutorial on the Stone Gable blog said to secure the wreath at 12:00 , 3:00, 6:00 and 9:00.  Use a long piece of wire (about 12" seems to by my magic measurement).

Secure the ends making sure there are no sharp scratchy edges.

To complete my wreath I HOT glued on some artificial roses and some dried hydrangeas. 

I love how my wreath looks. I live right beside a grasslands government park and it is loaded with sagebrush - so my wreath fits right in with the beautiful natural scenery around us.

What natural plants/twigs do you have around you?? I am sure there are many different and creative wreaths that can be made by making your own twiggy ____________ (fill in the blank) wreath.

Thanks for looking!


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