Personally I really like a wreath. You can probably tell looking around this blog as I made these ones for Spring and Summer. BUT I get that not everyone is a fan of non Christmas wreaths and that’s OK too. So for all of you non-wreath lovers out there, let’s call it an autumn candle centerpiece. You can totally make this to have on your dining or coffee table as a display. Sorted! Here’s how you can make your own stunning one with a few basic materials.
What you need for your wreath/centerpiece
- A wreath – I used a grapevine wreath that was 30.5 cm in diameter. You can find them at the Hobbycraft stores here
- Some leaves. I bought mine in a local store (Factory Shop), but you can find similar ones on Ebay here
- Pine cones – free on a walk, or find a bag full of them here
- Conkers – free on a walk, or if you’re living in the city, you can find a bag here
- Acorns – again, a free gift from nature, but check these out if you can’t find any!
- Hot glue
- Pair of pliers
putting it all together
I started with cutting the stems off the leave bunches with a pair of pliers. You will be using these as the base for your wreath. We’re going to be weaving the stems in between the wreath base so try to leave the stems as long as possible. You can always cut them down later if you need to.
Take your grapevine wreath and push the stem of the leaves in between the twigs. Once you’ve done the first one, weave the second one underneath. You’re aiming for the leaf of the first one to cover and hide the stem of the second one. You can see what I mean in the pics below. OR …you can catch what I mean on my Live Facebook video where we made this one. Check it out here.
By the way, I do regular craft sessions on Facebook so while you’re there, you may want to “like” my page and join me and others for weekly projects?
Finish off doing this all the way round the wreath until you’ve filled it up. Don’t worry too much about the leaves not sitting straight. Once you’ve filled it up with pinecones, conkers and acorns, it will look more in proportion! If you still think the leaves look unruly at the end, you can take your hot glue gun and stick some of them down if you want.
adding pinecones, conkers and acorns to your wreath/centerpiece
To really make your wreath look nice and full, add loads of pinecones, conkers and acorns (can I get an hurray for free craft materials??!!) You can add as many or as little as you like!
Grab some crafting wire and twist it around the bottom of the pinecone to secure (see pics below). Next put the wires on either side of the base of the wreath and pull it to the back. Twist to secure it at the back of your wreath base. If you’re lost, you can catch how to do this on the video!
I added 8 pinecones in total. Find a starting point and secure a pinecone. Then, grab your next one and position it opposite your first one. The third and fourth are added half way between them (kinda like 12.00, 3.00, 6.00 and 9.00 on a clock if that makes sense). The final ones are added in between all of them. I find this method works for me in spacing them out equally.
Once you’ve added the pinecones, take your hot glue gun and secure as many conkers as you want. Just glue those bad boys straight onto the leaves. I added quite a few and “bunched” them together. I knew I wanted to glue some acorns on top of them too so don’t be scared to glue them right next to each other. See how I layered the acorns on top of the conkers?
the results!
Go all around the wreath to finish off, adding as many as you like to fill it up. And that’s it!!
This is how it looks on our dining room table. If you’re not a fan of hanging it up as a wreath this is a great alternative for an eye catching candle holder centerpiece instead.
And of course, you can mix it up different years. I’ve used it as as display this year, but may use it as a hanging wreath next autumn. It gives me an excuse to make a whole new centerpiece!!
How would you display yours? Don’t forget to tag me on social media if you’re making one – I’d love to see what you did with it!
Please could you pin for later? Or so others can find this idea too?
Some of the links in this post are affiliate links which means I earn a small commission if you decide to use my links to purchase something (at absolutely no extra cost to you!). This will allow me to continue to share great ideas and projects with you, so I am very grateful for your support!
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