How to make a beaded Christmas Wreath

I hope you enjoyed last week’s blog in my special Christmas series for September. If you have missed any of the series, you can catch up here. Hopefully last week’s ornament inspiration has set you thinking. Today, I want to share how I made a beaded Christmas wreath.

How I decided on the project

For years now, I’ve been admiring Christmas wreaths. The only problem is, what to do with them when they die. So, I’ve been wondering how to make a beaded Christmas wreath that will last forever. I’ve made so many French beaded Christmas plants that I decided it must be possible to use some of these.

So, that is precisely what I’ve done. Now, I’m going to share my idea with you. So, you too can learn how to make a beaded Christmas wreath that you can keep forever.

For the purpose of this blog, I am assuming that you have got all the components of your wreath beaded already. So, these instructions are about showing you how to assemble them.

I am giving you details of the actual components that I used. However, you can replace them with your own if you wish.

My finished wreath measures about 23cm (9″) in diameter.

Materials and Tools

For my wreath, I used the following beaded elements:

6 sprigs of holly
1 Poinsettia flower
5 pieces of Mistletoe
4 piece of Gypsophila in gold
12 pieces of green filler

You will also need:

24cm of 2mm Aluminium Wire – this should be easy to bend and cut. You can try this supplier.
Floral stem wrapping tape. I have this available here.
Green embroidery silk – also available from me, so just follow the link for the stem wrapping tape above!
Some clear glue – I use UHU
Ribbon for hanging your wreath
Scissors
Wire cutters

So, gather everything together and I will show you how to make a beaded Christmas wreath!

About my Beaded Components

Rather than creating new patterns here, I want to show you how to make a beaded Christmas wreath using projects that I already have.

So, you can buy a complete kit for the holly sprigs. This contains all the materials and instructions you will need and it makes seven sprigs. So, you will have one left over for another decoration! Get the holly sprigs kit here.

The Poinsettia tutorial is only available in my ebook, Beaded Christmas Table. The Mistletoe tutorial is exclusive to the second ebook in that series, Beaded Christmas Decorations. The good news is, you can get a discount if you buy both ebooks together. Plus, you might like to save even more money and throw in the third in the series as well! They all include videos demonstrating the techniques you will be using. Plus, you’ll get loads of other fabulous Festive beading projects. So, get your ebooks here.

The Gypsophila tutorial is exclusive to my first French Beading book, Bead Flowers and Wedding Bouquets. The great news here is that this ebook uses video demonstrations to show you all the basics about French beading. You’re going to be using French beading techniques for all the elements in this wreath. So, this is a great way to ensure you really know what you’re doing! Grab your copy of Bead Flowers and Wedding Bouquets here.

Now, before I show you how to make a beaded Christmas wreath, let me show you the final beaded element. This is a quick filler that’s super-simple to make!

Green Filler Instructions

You need to use size 11 seed beads in green and 0.5mm wire in green. You will also need sixty 4mm pearls in green. So, if you need to grab any supplies, you can find everything here.

Start by threading about 1 foot (30cm) of beads onto your wire.

Now, leave a 4″ (10cm) stem wire and make a series of three single loops. You don’t need to count the beads – just slide a group along for each loop. Each group should be at least 3-4″ (7-10cm). It’s great if you use a different number of beads in each loop. So, that way all the loops will turn out different sizes.

Thread 5 pearls onto the stem wire and make a single loop with these. Make sure it is butted right up to the first three loops.

If you need a reminder of the single loop technique, I have a free tutorial that you can download here.

Cut the wire from the spool – again, leave about 4″ (10cm) of ‘stem’ on this side of your loops.

Twist the two stem wires together.

Finally, twist each of your loops. Take care as you do this – you don’t want to break any beads! The twisting doesn’t have to be tight. In fact, it is great if you twist some loops very loosely. So, use your artistic license here!

Set your first filler piece to one side and make eleven more.

Preparing the beaded elements

You have one more piece of preparation to do before we get on to how to make a beaded Christmas wreath.

So, take your Poinsettia flower. Cover the stem with floral stem tape. Then bind the top 1-2″ (3-5cm) with your green embroidery thread. Set this to one side.

Now take the first three holly sprigs. You want to bind them to form a single stem. This is a technique that I explained back in my National Beading Week Beadalong. So, if you are not familiar with it, then this blog shows you how – just scroll down to the two French beading projects.

Repeat that to join the other three holly sprigs.

Take your five sprigs of Mistletoe and twist all their stems together, so they are joined into a single group. Try to leave some room for each individual piece of Mistletoe to move. You may want to rearrange the grouping when you assemble the wreath.

Lastly, take one piece of Gypsophila and three green fillers. Hold them in place together and twist the stems to secure the group. Allow some movement of the individual wire stems on each. You are going to re-position them to fill out the wreath when you assemble it.

Repeat this with your remaining Gypsophila and fillers. So, you should end up with four identical groups.

Step 1

Take your 24cm piece of Aluminium wire and curve it into a circle. Make sure the ends just overlap very slightly. Use a short piece of floral stem tape to bind around the overlap. This should hold the circle in place securely.

Step 2

Take the Mistletoe bunch and place this on top of the area you have just joined. Use some floral stem tape to bind the stem of the Mistletoe along the wire circle.

Take care that you don’t move the circle out of alignment as you go.

Step 3

Now, use the same technique to add the next three elements. Place the Poinsettia at the bottom of the wreath.

Then add a group of holly on either side. It’s a good idea to measure around the circle to get the spacing even.

Step 4

Finally, add the four bunches of greenery/Gypsophila in each of the four gaps. Again, bind the stems with floral stem tape.

By now, you should have covered the complete circle with floral stem tape. If you do have any gaps, then fill them in with the tape at this point.

Step 5

Take your embroidery silk and carefully bind over the entire of the circle. So, this will create a neat finish to the stem tape and make sure that the back of your wreath is as neat as the front.

Use the clear glue to stick the end of the embroidery silk. If you start at the top of the wreath, then this will also be your finishing point. So, you can glue at a point that will be hidden by the hanging ribbon.

Step 6

Finally, arrange all the beaded elements into place. Now add your hanging ribbon.

I cut about 2 foot (60cm) of 1″ (2.5cm) wide ribbon. Knot the two ends together. Then, thread the looped end around the top of the wreath. Pass the knotted end up through it and pull tight to fasten the ribbon in place.