I bequeath you my wreath.

Wreaths aren’t all flowers and foliage, but also statements about a person or a space. Remember the kitschy porcelain windmill you picked up in Holland last year, or that miniature gondola that reminds you of your weeks in Venice? Mementos like these make great additions to a wreath. You can make a fresh, fragrant wreath based solely on your vacation memories by including flowers you remember and souvenirs from your trip. Wreaths also make great custom-tailored gifts, incorporating elements specific the recipient’s personality. Who wouldn’t be touched by such an intricately conceived present? Along with brightening rooms and acting as natural air fresheners, wreaths imbue a sense of homey coziness throughout; even more elaborate and stylized wreaths can add a touch of elegance to an otherwise blah area.

Will you enjoy spending the extra time to start your wreath from scratch? If you’re looking for a quicker–but still satisfying–fix, start with a store-bought base that has been pre-prepared. Of course, one made entirely from scratch tends to be fresher and invested with more personal value. If you’re going the ready-made route, look carefully: store-bought wreaths can be old, picked over or damaged.

Make preliminary decisions

Wreaths can be very personal or something everyone can appreciate. Consider the intended recipient. If the wreath is for yourself, think about what things you’d like to see day after day on the kitchen or living-room wall. What are your interests? If you like music, collect little music charms. If it’s for someone else, make a list of his or her interests and keep your eyes open for wreath-friendly representations of those interests. For instance, if the recipient has a feline fetish, you might add a ceramic cat magnet or a small mouse toy. Brass charms sold at most craft stores depict a wide variety of hobbies and interests, and the charms’ old-fashioned look is a wreath’s perfect complement.

• For longer-lasting wreaths, use entirely dried materials and sturdy trinkets. Fresh-flower wreaths are wonderful too, but don’t last as long.
• Look at other wreaths for inspiration. Is it June and not a typical wreath-worthy month? Peruse old holiday catalogs and magazines at home or the local library for photos or descriptions.

Make the base

• Use strong, basic foliage, such as evergreen, eucalyptus, straw, plain wood twig or grapevine twigs for the base.
• Bend the florist’s wire into a circle. The size of the circle is up to you, although it’s a good idea to start small–try the size of a dinner plate or a record album (remember those?). You may want to use an embroidery circle or other strong circular object as a guide.

• Clockwise or counterclockwise: Choose a direction for your foliage and stick with it, despite your urges to go off in all directions. Rest your circular wire on a flat, sturdy surface and place sprigs of foliage (one or two to start) along the top of the wire.
• With more florist’s wire (a stretch about 4 inches long should do), tie the foliage down around the circle–securing it to the base in intervals of thirds, fourths, or more. Think of it as a clock, with the foliage wired down at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o’clock. This leaves the foliage bushy and bunchy, but tied down. When you feel you have enough foliage for a base, commence the addition of color!

Ponder color

• Choose flowers. It’s up to you what flowers you’d like to use. If you’re making a wreath with a theme (such as a memory of your trip to Holland), go for tulips and other posies Dutchly associated. Craft stores will carry common–and usually inexpensive–sprigs such as baby’s breath and fern. Both are great for covering up gaps in the foliage base. Experiment with arranging both fresh and dried flowers on top of the wreath to achieve the desired effect. If you’re dead set on including only fresh flowers, but hate how quickly they spoil, try purchasing freeze-dried flowers from florists. Or, use a clear acrylic spray or inexpensive hair spray to seal the flowers and preserve their lives a little longer.

• Determine a pattern. The nature of the base can help you decide: if you have a straw wreath, use flowers that will complement straw, like daisies or sunflowers. Or try placing the bright red of a rose against a deep-green eucalyptus base for good contrast. Go for all pastels, or a two-color theme–use your instinct. But be sure to use strong flowers (like those with woody stems) on wood or twig bases.
• You want to use a wide variety of shades and hues in your wreath, but, unfortunately, most flowers don’t come in silver. No problem–use basic spray paint (on newspaper in a well-ventilated area, of course) to turn bulbs or sprigs into a rainbow’s worth of colors. Use this method with fruits and vegetables as well–painting dried pomegranates or orange slices helps to cover up blemishes that may have occurred in the drying process. Experiment with different materials–pine cones, shells, hay, and different-sized leaves.

Attach materials

• Floral wire, pins, loose hold, or glue gun? Merely inserting a stem into the folds of the foliage base can often do the trick, but you may want to secure the flowers down with florist’s wire. If your wreath is quite bushy, you’ll have better success at inserting stems without adding anything to hold them in. If the base is sparse, tying is your best bet. Another great way to attach flowers, especially bulbous ones that don’t have much stem, is to insert stickpins through the center of the flower and onto the wreath. This method is especially easy and hassle-free when using larger flowers. Using a hot-glue gun is a great, less messy way to attach flowers and other materials onto the wreath. A drop of hot glue will hold fast and because it’s clear, go unnoticed if a little spills over the sides.

Attach larger, solid objects. A glue-gun is the best way to go with trinkets, unless they have holes in them for hanging, in which case you can thread them with string and tie them to the base. Depending on the size of your base, you may not be able to add many larger objects. Test the base’s strength to see what holds well. A great-looking wreath will have balance and no droop.