New Year Wreaths Made by Hand

We are used to adopting Western traditions and new trends. And indeed, interesting things can often be found. For example, Western New Year and Christmas traditions. In addition to the familiar Russian New Year fir tree, one of the essential holiday elements in the West is a New Year or Christmas wreath (the main holiday in Europe falls on Christmas Day, December 25th).

Figure 1. Wreath from Fir Balls

The simplest and most common material for Christmas wreaths is fir branches. In the worst case, you can replace a Christmas tree with such a fir wreath if you don't have the opportunity to put one up. These wreaths are decorated with Christmas ornaments, ribbons, and various sweets.

But even without fir branches, you can make a wreath from any available materials.

For example, you can create a New Year wreath from pinecones. For this, cut out a circular base from thick cardboard, and then attach the pinecones to it using a glue gun. You can simulate frost with silver paint, and decorate the wreath with ribbons and ornaments as well.

Figure 2. Wreath from Pinecones

Figure 3. Wreath from Pinecones

Another simple way is to use store-bought New Year decorations. In common speech, these are Christmas balls. First, it's best to glue the balls onto metal hooks with loops. Then take wire that will serve as our frame. Thread the balls onto the wire and decorate with ribbons. It's better to combine balls of different sizes in the wreath so it looks more original.

If you don't even have Christmas balls at hand, we can use what every respectable housewife has – clothespins. It's ideal if the clothespins are already green in color. But if you only have plain wooden clothespins, we can easily paint them green. Thread the clothespins onto wire and decorate with red ribbons for a more festive look. You can also attach toys or New Year cards to the handmade wreath. By the way, if you thread beads between the clothespins, the wreath will look neater.

Figure 4. Wreath from Nuts

With thin branches at hand, you can also weave a wreath from them. If you decorate it with artificial snow, cotton, beads, or homemade snowflakes, such a wreath will certainly add warmth to your home.

Decorating the Wreath

Naturally, decorating a handmade wreath is just as important as making it. Let's take a closer look at this topic. First, consider the color scheme of the wreath and the materials it is made from. For example, candies on a wreath made of clothespins would look quite odd. Similarly, Christmas balls on a wreath made from Christmas balls would look like oil on water.
A rough list of possible decorations includes ribbons and bows, cards, sweets, Christmas ornaments, individual beads or complete necklaces, artificial snow,