A Grapevine Wreath For The Front Door

Create a DIY Grapevine Wreath for Your Front Door

Grapevine wreaths on your front door are a beautiful way to add a pop of colour and personality to your entry. And there are so many style options, fabric, burlap, full- flowered, grapevine, etc.

I had been admiring beautiful front door wreaths on Etsy but couldn’t commit to any. Most of my wreaths are for Christmas or Halloween, and I was really looking for an all year, spring to summer wreath.

I was having trouble deciding on a colour scheme, flower types, the size, how much I was willing to pay… pretty much any excuse to not pick one. And this indecision went on for at least a full year.

So the next step I took was deciding to make one myself. I made a burlap wreath before, so why not a larger, fuller, more intimidating wreath? Here is my ol’ faithful burlap wreath.

Mind you, it’s been 7 or 8 years since I made this wreath and it’s now looking sun-faded. But I still love how it looks. And I designed it so that the flowers can be changed out for the season which has been a fun perk. But I was ready for something new.

A New Wreath In Time For Spring

This wreath was a year in the making! There is a funny story attached that led to the delay.

I picked up supplies last spring while on a shopping trip to the city with my sister. We stopped at the craft store for a short visit which took longer than anticipated due to my indecision. She helped me meticulously pick out the colors for the new wreath for the front door. I found a grapevine wreath in a crate near the front door in just the right size. And I found a giant and gorgeous blue hydrangea that, as it turns out, was the color chosen for this year’s Color Of The Year. I circled back and bought extra filler pieces. Now I was ready to tackle this!

My Wreath Adventure

Once home, I set the wreath supplies down on the craft table. It would be a few days before I had time to tackle the wreath, and in the meantime, I did some research to figure out how to put it together. So the supplies sat in the shopping bag for a few days, looking enticing in the sunlight streaming through the window, just waiting for me.

The weekend arrived and I set out to tackle the grapevine wreath. I couldn’t wait to dig in and get it done! As I was taking out the supplies, I noticed a little bug crawling on the table. That’s weird, this is an odd room for bugs to wander into.

I got rid of the bug and kept working. I laid the supplies out on the table. Then some movement caught my eye. I noticed the same little bug on the wall, basking in the sunshine. Okay, now I was really suspicious. I took a closer look, and noticed 2 more on the wall in the sunbeam! Definitely not a coincidence!

When I finally stopped to observe the room, I realized there were probably a dozen of these tiny insects crawling in the sunbeams on the fireplace beside the craft table, another handful on the table itself, and probably 4 more on the wall. I had to find out where they were getting into my house!

Searching For the Source

The first places I checked were the baseboards and the windows, but they were not gathered there at all. No sign of insects coming in from the nooks and crannies of my room. So I checked around the areas where they seemed to be gathered, which was the fireplace and craft table.

I took a peek inside the shopping bag and YAHTZEE! There were a dozen or so of the little guys hanging out in there!

Yup they came with the supplies.

Quicker than I had unloaded them, the supplies were gathered up and tossed outside! Then I gathered up the insects.

Sitting in the sunshine must have woke these guys up. They were not normally found in my backyard either. After sending pictures to my husband and doing some research we realized they were baby praying manti. I know that they are supposed to be good for gardens and pest maintenance so I moved the bag of them to the back garden.

Needless to say, that wreath was not getting made any time soon. But I did hang onto the supplies. They were moved into the garden shed after a few days outside.

Second Attempt At The DIY Front Door Wreath

It’s been a full year since the praying mantis incident. There’s been no other sign of the bugs all year and the wreath supplies spent all summer and fall out in the garden shed thinking about what they did wrong. I brought them in for the winter and there they sat until now.

I will admit, doing a front door wreath was intimidating for some reason. I’ve never considered myself a floral designer and was uncomfortable working with these materials, but I was determined.

And staying home for a while has given me time to tackle unfinished projects. This wreath definitely fits that category.

Supplies

1 Grapevine Wreath

1 Large Hydrangea Flower or other centerpiece flower

2 Bunches of Foliage in a Neutral (I used ones with white flowers)

2 Bunches of Complimentary Florals (I used ones with little purple buds)

10-12 Bunches of Filler in Accent Colors ( I used light blue, dark blue, and pink)

Floral Wire

Hot Glue

2″ Wide Ribbon in a complementary color

Do a Test Layout

Before cutting and trimming any of the florals, do a rough layout on your wreath to determine how you want them to look. I decided to do an offside gathering with a fairly symmetrical pattern.

It’s a good idea to take a picture that you can reference back.

Trim Your Floral Pieces

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Trim down the stems of your flowers before weaving them into your wreath. This will help to cut down on how many stems are jammed into the same space. Take the time to separate out the bunches of flowers. I did leave the bundles together that I was using for the base layer foliage so they would still be nice and full. This also helped to prop up the flowers to give them more depth instead of lying flat.

For the flowers that are going to be closer to the center, remove the leaves and foliage so you just have to flowers themselves. As you work your way closer to the center, you don’t want the foliage to be hiding all your flower underneath, You want the different layers to show through.

Add Your Base Layer

Weave the stem (or jam it) into the grapevine wreath. You’ll have to adjust it until you get them in the right place and spacing for your pattern. Make sure the ends of them are where you want your wreath’s flower design to end. For mine, I wanted the top flowers to end near the center of the wreath, but not quite there since I plan to add a ribbon for hanging my wreath. At the bottom, I wanted the flower to curve along the bottom and end slightly to the right.

Use Floral Wire to Secure Any Flowers in Place

To get the keep the rounded look along the bottom, I cut small pieces of floral wire and used them to secure my foliage bunch to the grapevine wreath and loosely follow the curve. Some floral wire was also used along the top flowers to secure them in place.

I used wire mostly on the first base layer foliage to make sure the shape I wanted was securely in place as more flowers were added. Since the wreath is also going to be hanging outside, I wanted to make sure the first layer would stay in place if it gets blown around too.

Keep Adding Flowers As You Work Your Way In

After the foliage (white flowers) are attached add in your complimentary flowers, mine are purple. These should be placed a bit lower down than where the white flowers are placed so that the flowers start to flow towards the center.

You may need some hot glue to keep these flowers in place. If you can use floral wire, use that too. I found it was hard to get the floral wire secured with the base layer of foliage in place.

Now you can add your accent flowers as you keep working your way to the center of your design. Make sure some of the flowers are placed near the outside of your wreath so that it keeps its fullness.

Mix up the colors and placement to get a layered and interesting look. Try not to just bunch them together and glue them in place right away. It looks so much better if you work slowly and place each individual flower in place before moving onto the next. It’s okay to place a flower down, step back to check how it looks, and move it around. When you’re happy with the placement, then you can hot glue it down.

The Focal Point

The focal point of your wreath is going to be your largest flower. I used a bright blue hydrangea. I loved the depth of the colour and size of this flower. You could also gather some smaller flowers together to create a larger centerpiece.

The large size helps cover up the hot glue and mess of stems beneath it. You want to make sure that this flower is secure. Weave its stem into the grapevine wreath as much as possible and also use hot glue.

Final Touches

Once your wreath is put together, you can go back in and add some extra leaves, filler, glitter, etc. I added the hydrangea leaves afterwards as well a few ferns.

Next, you’ll trim down any stems that are sticking out of the grapevine wreath. It’s better if you can cut them really close to the wreath.

You’re also going to need a way to hang your wreath. How you hang it depends on your door. Mine has a glass pane so I can’t put a hook right where I want it to hang. What I did instead was tie a ribbon around my wreath and glued the two ends together to form a loop. I also secured the ends with a safety pin. The ribbon loop hooks on an upside-down hook at the top of my door on the inside. Now it hangs at just the right height!

All Year Front Door Grapevine Wreath

I am over the moon happy with how the grapevine wreath for my front door looks! It turned out to be easier to make than I thought it would. And it looks as good as some of the ones I was about to pay $100 for! More money in my pocket means more projects down the road.

For another fun wreath idea check out Tasha’s Pom Pom Wreath over at Kaleidoscope Living.

What do you think of it? Are you ready to make your own wreath for your front door? Will it be for year round like this one, or a seasonal wreath? Let me know in the comments!

Save Pin For Later! Grapevine Wreath