How to make a plant vine wreath
This summer, a rogue vine found shelter in the 150 year old spruce tree in our back yard. I cursed and worried about it for months, until I realized I could wrangle it free and put it to use. What inspired me was this beautiful book that caught my eye in a second hand bookstore here in Chicago. It walks you through dozens of creative ways to make wreaths using simple crafting supplies and natural, seasonal foliage.
Most of the wreaths in the book are made of embroidery hoops, straw, wire, foam, ropes, or vines. Personally I love the natural, unruly look of vines and relished an excuse to remove an invasive plant from our garden. As far as types of vines go, I can’t say for certain what kind I used, but a cursory search on the internet pointed squarely towards something called honeyvine milkweed - an unwelcome nuisance in the yard but a dream to work with in the art room. Used fresh, it’s thin and malleable. It also has coiled tendrils that give a wreath a wild-rustic look.
Eloise made a wreath alongside me but wanted to use dried grapevine, which we just so happened to have in a drawer in our art room. I’m sure fresh grapevines are easy to work with but dried ones are inflexible, brittle, and a quick bend away from cracking and snapping into a bazillion pieces. Working with dried vines can be done, but if you can find fresh ones, you’ll enjoy this project more. Aside from grape vines, clematis, willow, wisteria, and honeysuckle are commonly used to make wreaths. As a side note, if you want to skip making the vine wreath altogether, you can buy ready-made ones at most craft stores.
Once you’ve created your wreath, you can decorate it however you like. We used fresh herbs from our garden since our lavender, rosemary, and thyme were still growing in abundance, but anything seasonal and local would work. For a fall wreath, you could use wheat, oats, millet, amaranth, goldenrod, Queen Anne’s lace, nigella, tansy, tumbleweed, safflower, yarrow, or broom corn. A walk through your yard or a local garden, field, forest, or florist will inspire all sorts of ideas. Plants can be used fresh or dried, although some dry better than others. As far as herbs go, I find that hardier (low-moisture herbs) like rosemary, sage, lavender, and savory dry best. High-moisture herbs like basil, mint, and lemon balm tend to wilt and disappear on the vine. As always, I think the best way to learn is to experiment, so go at it and enjoy!
Materials
for wreath
one plant vine (length depends on size of wreath)
secateurs
twine or floral wire
floral scissors
for herbs
4-6 inch long sprigs of various herbs
Directions
Use secateurs to cut a vine from a tree or plant in your backyard (or other natural area). The longer the vine, the bigger and thicker your wreath can be.
Cut the vine to the desired length and remove any leaves or other foliage by hand or with the help of floral scissors.
Bend the vine to create a circular shape the size you want the wreath to be. For thick vines, a single loop with a small overlap is usually sufficient; for thin vines, you can use three or four loops stacked upon themselves to create a sturdy vine.
Using twine or floral wire, tie the vine together at three to four points, spaced evenly apart, along the wreath. Weave in the ends to conceal them.
Using floral scissors, clean up the wreath by snipping off straggling or unattractive pieces.
Arrange the herbs where you want them to be, bending and curving them to match the shape of the wreath. Weave their stems into the wreath, then secure them in place by tying them to the wreath with twine or floral wire. To hide the twine or floral wire, attach the twine or wine around the stem, under leaves or foliage.
Hang your wreath. You won’t need to attach any hardware as the vines will hang neatly and easily on a hook, doorknob, or nail.