Christmas Urn and Wreath

The weather’s really nice today, and it seemed like a great time to do some outdoor decorating.  I decided to do my urn and front door wreath today.  I spotted in a flyer last night that the Metro had fresh wreaths for $9.99 and after making one in the past, I think the 10 bucks is worth it.  So I picked up a plain Jane Balsam wreath, and then headed to collect some greens.  If you don’t have a source for greens, then they too are readily available at grocery and flower stores.  Here’s what I collected.  (The red dog wood branches are for a future project, I’ll keep you posted.)

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Last year (pre-blog) I added birch poles to my urn.  I collected the birch, and cut it to varying heights, then I anchored it in cement.  Birch has become so popular, you can now buy the poles where ever you buy your greens, or a good florist could order them for you.  The birch poles are heavy and you don’t want them tipping your whole urn over in a breeze, so you need to anchor them in cement.  Just use a little cement mix and water and mix it up in a large ice-cream container (make sure the container fits in your urn first 😉 ).  Then stick in the birch and let it set overnight, this way you can remove the birch in the summer or next Christmas for a different look.  Another tip, I used my step ladder set up over the urn and little string to hold the birch in place overnight while the cement set.  I love how it turned out.

After it’s all set, you can add a little soil on top to push the greens into.

I had a variety of greens, including a little cedar, juniper, pine, and balsam.  I like a mix of greens, but all one kind is also really beautiful.  Use what ever you have.  Some of the branches needed a little trim to make them shorter, or create a place at the bottom to push into the soil.  I just started working, and continued stuffing in more until I liked the look.  Here is the beginning.

After I had it to a fullness I liked, it was time to guild the lily.  I added in some branches I found with some purplish-black berries, and some glittering snowflakes.

 

I have a snowflake theme this year, but at this point you could take it in any direction;  red bow and berries, silver Christmas balls, and glittered pics, or a more natural look with birch bark star ornaments and rustic twig balls.  The sky is the limit!

I also added a little sparkle to the wreath.  I started with inserting a little pine into the existing wreath.  I liked the mixed ones at the store but they were over double the price, so since I had other greens on hand, I just stuck a few small pieces in.  I like how it turned out.

 

I found some fun sparkly snow flakes at Walmart, I bought the large ones for the urn, and some small ones for the wreath.  I added a little fine wire to attach them to the wreath.

I also added a snowflake bow, that I had my sister make-up for me, it’s handy having a sister who’s a florist 😉

I’m really pleased with how it all turned up, and hopefully after this weekend, we’ll have some Christmas lights up to.  The snowflakes are really pretty and festive, but I won’t mind it that’s the only snowflakes we see for awhile!

Merry Christmas!

This post is linked up to: Crazy Christmas Crafters with I Heart Naptime, Tatertots and Jello, Under the Table and Dreaming, Blue Cricket Design, House of Hepworths, Mad Skills Party, Funky Junk Interiors, and the DIY Show Off Holiday Highlights Party.  Enjoy some great ideas from all these other friendly bloggers hosting link parties.