Bluebird and Red Berry Evergreen Wreath How-to

To make this wreath you need:

• basic store-bought evergreen wreath

• sharp scissors or pruners to cut branches

• wire cutters

• light gage florists wire

• floral pics

• white craft paint and small artist's brush

• low heat glue gun and glue sticks

• faux red berry branch (I used one large branch)

• boxwood cuttings about 6" in length (I trimmed a few boxwood sprigs from my garden even though this is not a great time of year to be pruning box. You can also often find swags of boxwood in stores during the holidays.)

• 6 pinecones

• dogwood branches of assorted lengths 

• 3 clip-on bluejays and 3 tiny bluebirds

• birdhouse ornament

• spool of blue satin ribbon ( 4 yard spool of 1.5" wide ribbon)

How-to:

Insert some boxwood sprigs, dogwood branches into your store bought wreath and allow them to catch in the mix of evergreens. 

Take a large stem of faux red berries and cut the stem into several smaller branches. (I made mine 6-10" in length)

Take some white craft paint and dry brushed "snow" onto the pinecones. Allow the paint to dry. 

Cut a length of light gage florist's wire (approx. 10-12"). Wrap the florist wire around the base of your pinecone and twist a knot to close the wire around the pinecone's base. 

Take the extra lengths of wire and poke them through the evergreen wreath. Twist the loose ends of wire at the back of the wreath into a knot to fix the pinecones to the wreath.

Removed the rope hanger from a little cardboard birdhouse ornament, poke a hole in the bottom and inserted a florist's pic. Add a dab of hot glue to secure the pic onto the birdhouse. 

Then insert the birdhouse pic into the wreath and allowed it to catch in the evergreen mix.

 Clip 3 bluejays and 3 little bluebirds onto the dogwood and berry branches. 

(Keeping it real- these little birds are not meant for high winds and rain. Your wreath will need to be hung indoors or in a sheltered location like a porch or on the inside of a screen door.)

Make a bow. Turn it over and run a length of florist's wire through the bow's centre knot. 

Poke the ends of the wire through the wreath and twist a knot on the wreath's reverse side to fix the bow in place. 

Trim away any excess wire with your wire cutters. Turn the raw ends of wire back into the wreath so 

you won't get cut hanging your wreath. 

Create a wire loop to hang the finished wreath and enjoy the holidays!

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