Sharing an easy and quick holiday DIY: how to make a modern, asymmetrical holiday wreath and attach it to a round mirror.
Two quick thoughts about this project: 1) My goodness, how I’ve missed crafting and creating with my hands, and 2) DIY projects that happen serendipitously – without any sort of planning – are the best kind of DIY projects. Wouldn’t you agree?
In preparation for Christmas decorating I had pinned enough asymmetrical wreaths to know I wanted to try my hand at one. They are so festive yet modern, simple but pretty – just how I like my holiday decorations. The problem: I searched and searched and could not find a large-enough metal embroidery hoop for the wreath.
Then, I remembered that I own 4 (Or is it 5? It may actually be 6…) round, brass mirrors – which kind of look a bit like an embroidery hoop, right? What’s more: One of these mirrors was hanging over the fireplace mantle – the very spot I wanted to hang the asymmetrical wreath (if I ever got around to making it, that is).
Wasting no time, and without any clear plan or vision of the end results, I gathered a few random supplies I had on hand and began crafting. Afterwards, I polled my Instagram audience on who wanted a tutorial, and an overwhelming majority of you said, “Me, me, me!”
So, here we are. Follow along with these easy steps to make your own modern, asymmetrical wreath, and learn how to attach it to a round mirror.
You’ll Need the Following Materials:
- Round, brass mirror, approximately 28″ in diameter
- Wire cutters or cutting pliers
- 22 gauge green floral wire – I prefer green because it’s not as visible in a garland
- Faux greenery of your choice – I used about 2 stems of faux boxwood greenery and a couple pieces I plucked from a faux bay leaves garland
- Assorted mini-ornaments in various sizes, colors and textures
Step 1: Prepare Your Supplies
Using the wire cutters, cut each piece of greenery to approximately 6 inches in length.
Next, cut a dozen or so pieces of the green floral wire. I made mine approximately 2 inches long. The length of the wire depends on how thick you plan to make your garland. If you cut yours too long, you can always snip off the ends after you’ve wound it around the greenery.
Cutting all of your supplies in advance will make the garland-binding process go faster, so you’re not having to pause to cut more supplies.
Turn all greenery so that it is facing the same direction. Since we’ll be attaching the garland to a mirror, only one side will be visible. So, make sure the underside of the leaves is facing away from you.
Step 2: Start Binding the Greenery Together
Place one stem of greenery about halfway down another, and secure them using one small piece of the floral wire. If you want a thicker wreath, bundle a couple stems together before attaching them to another bundle of similar size.
Wrap the wire tightly a couple of times around the two stems of greenery so that they are secure. I prefer wrapping the wire around the stems rather than twisting the wire ends, because I find it holds everything in place more securely.
When wrapping the wire around the stems, make sure there are no leaves in the way. Only bind the main stems so that the leaves can fall naturally, covering most of the green wire.
Step 3: Continue Binding the Greenery
Continue to layer the stems and binding them together with the floral wire. If using various greenery, make sure you alternate the different textures and tones of green.
When you’re one stem (or bundle) away from finishing the garland, turn the last stem in the opposite direction from the others, and secure it to the next-to-last piece. Doing so will ensure that the ends look like they naturally taper off rather than come to an abrupt stop.
Attach a couple smaller pieces of greenery right where the two stems meet to add a bit of dimension and hide the obvious intersection of stems.
You want the longer garland to frame just a little over a quarter of the mirror. The second, shorter garland should be about half the length of the first one, but feel free to experiment. The asymmetrical look is what gives this wreath a modern and deconstructed feel.
I mainly used faux boxwood stems. At the end, I added just a couple bay leaves into spots that looked a bit sparse.
Step 4: Repeat Steps 2 and 3 to Make the Smaller Garland
Follow the same steps for the smaller piece of garland, layering and binding the greenery together until you’ve made a garland roughly half the length of the first one.
Step 5: Attach Both of the Garlands to the Mirror
You have several options when attaching the garlands to the mirror.
The mirror I used has these convenient hooks on the back.
So, to attach the garlands, I cut a piece of floral wire approximately 5 inches in length (the length of the wire is determined by the thickness of your garland). I laid the garland on top of the mirror, where I wanted to attach it. Then, I slid one end of the wire between the mirror and the mirror frame, looped it around the garland, making sure not to pin down any of the leaves, only the stems.
Then, I pulled the wire tightly towards the back, looping it once or twice around the closest hook. If you realize the wire you cut is a bit too long, simply snip off the ends after you’ve wound it around the hook.
Repeat the process until you’ve securely attached both garlands to the mirror.
If your mirror doesn’t have hooks on the back, you can attach the garland to the wall behind the mirror using command hooks. These adhesive hooks can later be removed with no sticky residue or damage left behind.
If you want a more permanent solution, use a hot glue gun to attach the garland to the mirror.
Step 6: Attach Tiny Christmas Ornaments, if You’d Like
Right around this point, I had the brilliant idea to add tiny Christmas ornaments to the wreath to jazz it up a bit. It is Christmas, after all. A little sparkle is a must!
To attach the ornaments, you could go the more secure route and either inconspicuously tie them to the wreath using fishing line, or attach them using small pieces of floral wire.
But I was Instagramming the entire project, and by this point I was kind of over it and just wanted to be done already, ha! So, I just stuck the ornaments into the wreath to get a general idea of how it would look. Lo and behold, they didn’t fall off, so I figured, “Why fix something if it ain’t broke?”
Voilà! You have a modern, asymmetrical wreath on a round mirror.
Once the holidays are over, you can easily take off the ornaments and add florals, or leave the greenery as is for a more minimalistic effect year-round. If you decide to tackle this easy and quick DIY project over the holidays, be sure to tag me on Instagram so I can see your beautiful creations!