Making a House a Home: DIY Spring Burlap Wreath

A few weeks ago (probably during one of those warm “fake spring” days), I started thinking about switching my front porch decorations to spring. We moved into this house last July, so this is my first switch to spring. Our house has a pretty blue front door with the word “welcome” written in white at the bottom. We have sidelights and no windows on the door itself, so the top half of the door is solid and plain. It is the PERFECT place for a spring wreath, but I didn’t have one.

I knew I wanted something simple, but big and bright for our front door. I searched for a few weeks at a ton of places (Target, Michaels, Kirklands, Big Lots, Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, etc.), but I couldn’t find what I wanted. One almost worked, but it was nearly $65.00 (NO, thank you). I priced out some materials and browsed through the florals at Michaels. I decided I could make what I wanted for a very affordable cost.

The Project

I decided on a burlap wreath because I knew I could add a pop of color, but keep it fairly simple. Burlap wreaths are such an easy and fun DIY project. Unlike some wreaths that are seasonally specific, like certain leaves or pine branches, burlap wreaths can be tailored to any and every season. You could even attach your embellishments with velcro so you could switch them out for different seasons. A window pane wreath would also be a great addition to your home for spring.

The Materials

For this project, you only need a wire wreath frame, burlap garland, a fastener (floral wire, twist tie, pipe cleaner, zip tie, etc.), scissors, embellishments, glue sticks, and a glue gun.

I used an 18” wire wreath frame, but a 12” is definitely a good size. I just wanted a statement wreath! They are also available in a 24” size.

I recommend using rolls of open weave burlap that are 5″ to 6.5” wide. You can use the tight weave burlap, but it doesn’t fluff up as nice for me and you have to be more selective about your fastener since the weave is not as open (this will make more sense later if it doesn’t make sense yet!). I used open weave burlap that was 5.5” wide. I used about 55’ of burlap on my 18” wreath.

For my embellishments, I used faux peonies and some extra ribbon and burlap mesh I had in my craft closet. You can use anything you want, and you probably have some cute items left over from other projects.

Assembly

The first step is to attach your first roll of burlap to the outside edge of the wire wreath form. I attached my burlap with floral wire because this is what I had already. String it through the burlap to attach it to the wire form. This is why your fastening method will matter more if the weave of your burlap is very tight. You wouldn’t be able to get a pipe cleaner or something similarly large through the tight weave burlap.

After you attach the burlap to the wire wreath form, start pulling the burlap through the slot closest to you (outside edge) until it forms a little peak/loop. I folded my burlap in half to pull it through, but you can do whatever you think looks best. Once you have the peak as tall as you want it, make a peak in the middle slot, and then in the slot closest to the center. Once you finish your first row, start back at the outside edge of the wreath form and keep doing it. The most important thing is to make sure you keep pushing the loops back toward where you started so they are very tight. I’ll stick a video on my social media stories if you want to see me doing this.

If you have never done this before, the first section will feel loose and the motion does not feel very natural, but you get used to it, and it will start to go fast. Squishing the loops helps to make sure they are secure and that the burlap will cover the wire wreath form.

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Every so often, secure the burlap to the wire wreath form like you did at the beginning. I do this after every section in the wire wreath form. You also have to do this if you run out of burlap on one spool and you need to start another one. Securing it periodically helps to make sure that the burlap stays secure and that each section is tight. Keep doing this until every section of your wire wreath form is covered in burlap peaks/loops.

Once you get to the end, secure the burlap again. After these steps are completed, you can go through your wreath and pull on some of the loops to fluff them up, cover any sports where the wreath form is showing, etc. I kept my loops pretty tight, but you can mess with them until you love how it looks.

Finishing Touches

Once the burlap is attached, you can add whatever embellishments you like. I added some leftover white burlap loops to the inside and outside edges of my wreath.

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I love peonies, so I added faux pink peonies. They pop on our blue front door and I love how big they are.

I also added loops of ribbon for another color and texture. I cut the ribbon into pieces about 4” long and then folded them in half. To attach them, I glued the outside of each loop, slipped it into the burlap, and squeezed both sides of the burlap around the loop. It added a bit of green to match the leaves on the peonies.

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I love how our wreath turned out. It really pops on the front door because of its size and the big flowers. You could add a bow, an initial, a last name, or multicolored flowers. What embellishments would you use on your burlap wreath?

Katie G.