DIY Evergreen Romantic "Zinnia" Wreath

Hi! Spring is coming and it's time to remove christmas wreathes and to take off last needles from the inside of your slippers.

 And then to bring some romantic atmosphere of spring time and love and sun and flowers... that you can make out of old christmas decoration partly.

So, what do we need?

Thick cardboard or polystyrene (1-2 cm) for the basement. And knife to cut it. Size of the wreath is up for you and depends of quantity and size of cones and place where the wreath will be placed.

Pine cones. Cones should be with bottom flat enought to be resemble flowers. Better if you find cones with rounded flakes (look at the picture). And try to select cones of different sizes to make wreath nuttier.

Elder catkins - if you have no alders outside your window, you can replace it with some beads or berries (natural or not).

Glue - glue gun is perfect, but you can use any viscous glue.

Twigs - of birch or willow or any other flexible branches. IMHO, birch has more rustic look. Twigs are necessary if you make wreath around a heart, if not - skip this.

Acrylic paints and brushes - to colour your decoration. If you are going to put the wreath outside - use varnish or choose waterproof paints.

How to make.

Cut out a shape (it can be any shape you like, but if you are going to make a wreath around it (like me), try to do the height and the width approximately the same) from base material. Let me call it "the shape" below. 

Snap off the top of cones. I did it with my fingers. It's hurt. I suggest to use tongs or pliers.

 Pick out a hole in the basement, generously flood it with glue and put in there the remains of the cones.

 First - big cones.

Then - small catkins (or what you've got)  in the free space between the cones. Not bad already, true?

 If you wish to make bright unnatural coloring (like mine), you need first hide natural colours under primer. Paint it over with white colour or primer.

 When it dried up, unleash your imagination! :) Tip: Use no more than 2-3 colours and their shades to get harmonious combination.

 If you would like to add a circle frame for your shape - take some twigs and put it together, fixing with a rope or thread. Diameter of the ring must be like the most wide mesure of the shape. Then, you could paint it too.

Turn over the shape, face side down inside your wreath. Add a lot of glue in the spots where the shape and wreath are touching. Leave it for sufficient time.

Congrats!