Dried Flower Wreath: Wiring Small Bundles onto a Hoop

The simplest way to build a dried flower wreath is to stop thinking about single stems. Dried flowers are too fine and too brittle to attach one by one. Gathered into small mixed bundles, they become sturdy enough to handle, and the bundles can be wired to a thin ring one after another so each hides the stems of the last.

This project uses a 10 in (25 cm) hoop or thin wire ring, with dried flowers and grasses covering about the lower two thirds.

Choosing the Flowers and Grasses

Bought dried flowers and home-dried ones both work. Whichever you use, the stems should feel completely dry and stiff, and the flower heads should hold together when lightly shaken. Material that still feels soft is not ready.

Aim for three kinds of material so each bundle has some variety.

Limit the palette to two or three flower colors plus the pale tones of the grasses. If you gather your own plants to dry, take them only from your own garden or with permission, and only plants you can identify with certainty.

What You Need

• One 10 in (25 cm) metal hoop or thin wire ring
• Dried flowers and grasses, enough for about 12 to 15 small bundles
• Floral tape in green or brown
• Fine floral wire on a paddle or spool
• Small scissors and wire cutters
• A tray or sheet of paper to work over
• Narrow ribbon or twine for a hanging loop

Handle Brittle Stems with Care

Dried material sheds. Petals, seeds and grass fluff drop every time a stem is moved, and thin stalks snap if you grip them near the head. Pick everything up by the stems, low down, and never by the flower. Work over a tray to catch the fallen bits.

If a stem is tangled with another, snip it free with scissors instead of pulling.

Make the Bundles

Each bundle is small: about three to five stems, cut to roughly 4 to 5 in (10 to 13 cm) long. Small bundles follow the curve of a 10 in (25 cm) ring; large ones stick out as straight tufts.

1. Layer the stems. Put a line or plume at the back as the longest piece, then a cluster in front and slightly lower, then a small bloom or a second grass at the front. The heads should sit at staggered heights.
2. Trim the ends level. Hold the bundle by the stems and cut the bottoms even.
3. Bind with floral tape. Floral tape sticks to itself when stretched. Pull it gently as you wind it around the lower part of the stems, three or four turns, then tear it off and press the end down. Bind firmly, but stop if you feel stems crushing.

Make all the bundles before you attach any. Lay them in a row and check that the colors are spread evenly across them.

Wire the Bundles onto the Hoop

Decide where the decoration starts and ends. For a hoop covered on the lower two thirds, the bare section sits at the top. All bundles point the same way around the ring, so begin at one end of the covered section and work toward the other.

1. Anchor the wire. Wrap the end of the fine wire several times around the hoop at your starting point and twist it tight. Leave it attached to the paddle.
2. Bind the first bundle. Lay it along the hoop with the heads pointing away from the direction you will travel. Wrap the wire around the taped stems and the hoop three times, pulling snug.
3. Overlap the second bundle. Place it so its heads cover the bound stems of the first. Wrap the wire around its stems in the same way.
4. Continue around. Angle one bundle a little toward the outside of the ring and the next a little toward the inside, so the hoop is hidden from the front.
5. Finish the end. The last bundle has exposed stems. Cover them with a tight wrap of floral tape, or with a few turns of narrow ribbon or twine. Cut the wire, twist it off at the back and tuck the sharp end in.

A smooth metal hoop lets bundles slide. If yours turn around the ring, wrap that stretch of hoop with floral tape first to give the wire some grip. Other ways to fix light material are compared in the guide to attaching materials to a wreath.

If Something Goes Wrong

• Stems and tape show between bundles. The bundles are too far apart. Slip an extra small bundle into the gap and wire it in.
• Heads snap off as you wire. The wire is crossing the flowers. Lift the heads of the previous bundle out of the way and wrap only over stems.
• The ring looks spiky. The bundles are too long for the curve. Trim the longest lines back by a little, cutting just above a side shoot.

Display, Care and Variations

Tie a loop of narrow ribbon or twine to the bare top of the hoop. A dried wreath is light, but still check the weight rating of the hook you use. Hang it indoors, on a wall or an interior door that is not slammed, away from steamy kitchens and bathrooms and out of direct sun. Damp makes dried flowers limp and can lead to mold. Sunlight bleaches them. Even in a good spot the colors soften and fade naturally, and some shedding is normal.

Dust it with gentle puffs of air, not a cloth. When it comes down, keep it flat in a box of its own; the guide to storing wreaths explains how to pad it.

For a sparer look, cover only a third of the ring with a handful of bundles, in the manner of the minimalist hoop wreath.