DIY Faux Magnolia Wreath for Thanksgiving or Christmas

Do you want to learn how to make a DIY faux magnolia wreath for Thanksgiving or Christmas as way to celebrate the season?  This post shows you how one wreath can serve both purposes with some simple modifications. 

If you are new to this blog: Welcome! My name is Anna and I share information on collecting antique/vintage items, refurbishing furniture, and making small crafts/projects. The purpose of this blog is to share how to use creativity and antiques to make your home beautiful. In addition to the blog, you can follow me on the following social media accounts; Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest.

Back Story

Here in upstate New York, the leaves have all turned yellow, gold, brown and rust colored.  The air has a certain crispness letting you know fall has arrived.  With the arrival of fall, is the arrival of the “holiday season”.  It seems between the time of Halloween and New Years Eve, we are in a constant state of celebration. Or, more likely, simply trying to keep up with the holidays, expectations and ever increasing speed of time.  In a few weeks, I will blink and Christmas will be here.

So today, I wanted to share a little wreath “hack” with you.  We are going to create a DIY faux magnolia wreath that, with a few modifications, can be used for Thanksgiving or Christmas. You can meet holiday expectations, be creative, save money and save a little time by using this wreath technique.  

So let’s jump into the project. 

DIY Faux Magnolia Wreath for Thanksgiving or Christmas

My original inspiration for this post came from visiting Nantucket during the holiday season. If you have ever been to the island around Christmas time, you know almost every door has a big beautiful full wreath.  I noticed, many of the wreaths were made using southern magnolia leaves.  The wreaths were generous in size and adorned with a wide variety of Items.  

I started looking to buy a gorgeous magnolia wreath and was shocked to find they had a price tag of well over $100. After the sticker shock, I was inspired to make my own wreath. Additionally, I prefer to have wreaths I can re-use.  As such, I decided to create a DIY faux magnolia wreath that can be hung on your front door for TWO holidays.  The first wreath is made for Thanksgiving and then with a few minor modifications, the second wreath can be used for Christmas. 

Supplies 

All of the supplies for this project are from my local craft store.  You can find these items at any craft store such as Michaels, Hobby Lobby or Jo Ann Fabrics.  Where possible I provided links to similar online sources. 

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Unfortunately, the typical southern magnolia trees used for making wreaths don’t grow in upstate New York. The climate here is too cold.  So, I didn’t have access to fresh leaves. Otherwise, I definitely would have tried to make an entire wreath using real magnolia leaves. If you have access to a magnolia tree, you can use fresh magnolia leaves for this project.  Just be prepared for the color of the leaves to fade. Although real magnolia leaves feel tough and resilient, over time they can become brittle. 

Thanksgiving Wreath

• Grapevine wreath form -I used an 18 inch form
• Faux magnolia leaves – Note: look for magnolia leaves, garlands, or magnolia wreaths on clearance at your local craft store.  Especially at the end of the season. You can re-use the leaves.
  • These are rust colored magnolia stems
  • These are green leaves with brown on the underside
• Pheasant feathers
• Foam mushrooms
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks (optional)
• Floral wire (optional)
• Wire cutters
• Bamboo skewers (for the foam mushrooms)

Christmas Wreath

• Same grapevine wreath form
• Same faux magnolia leaves shared above
• Faux magnolia gold leaves  
• Shatter proof gold ornaments – I used 3 inch Christmas balls
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks (optional)
• Floral wire (optional)
• Wire cutters 

Assemble Thanksgiving Magnolia Wreath

Using your wreath form lay it down on a flat surface.  Gather bunches of magnolia leaves and tuck them in around the wreath form, ensuring they are evenly distributed.  Be sure to tuck them in the wreath’s interior as well as on the outside of the wreath form.  If you are using a faux stem with multiple magnolia leaves attached, use wire cutters to remove each leaf. 

I tried to place the glossy leaves face up or the green leaves face up.  Each leaf had a slight curl, allowing the rusty brown underside and ends of the leaves to be seen.  It created a lovely effect. 

I wanted my leaves to look natural and unfurled as opposed to flat.  Periodically stand back so you can see if your wreath is balanced and the leaves are evenly distributed around the wreath form. 

A Quick Note

A quick note, if desired, you can secure the faux magnolia leaves with hot glue or you can wire them to the wreath form. However, I found my stayed put by simply tucking them into the grape vine wreath form.  If you decide to use a wire wreath form or a foam wreath form, you will need to wire or glue the leaves in place. Once you are satisfied with the placement of the leaves, you are ready to adorn your wreath.  

Adorn the Wreath

This Thanksgiving, I am inspired by the woods in my backyard.  So, I decided to adorn my magnolia wreath with long pheasant feathers and foam mushrooms. Here are some other items you could use to adorn your own magnolia wreath:

• pine cones
• small pumpkins
• gourds
• turkey feathers
• acorns

If desired, you can use a ribbon to hang the wreath on your front door. 

Feel free to pin any of the images below if you want to bookmark this post for future reference.

Assemble Christmas Magnolia Wreath

Once your wreath has been assembled for Thanksgiving, it’s easy to give it a quick makeover for Christmas. Remove the fall adornments, such as the pheasant feathers and mushrooms.  (Another reason I chose not to use hot glue or floral wire is because I knew I wanted to remove the existing fall adornments and add new Christmas flourishes.)

Adorn the Wreath

Once the fall decor has been removed from the wreath, add in the faux gold magnolia leaves and attach the shatterproof Christmas balls.  The wreath shown here had three inch Christmas ball ornaments.  Since your front door is likely to be opened and closed repeatedly throughout the holiday season, I strongly recommend using shatterproof ornaments.  

Although I used gold magnolia leaves and gold Christmas balls to adorn the wreath, here are some other items you could use:

• Dried orange slices
• Fresh greenery 
• Ribbon
• Pine cones
• Faux berries

Here is the DIY faux magnolia wreath dressed up for Christmas. Feel free to pin any of the images below.

In Closing …

Thank you for stopping by the blog today.  I hope this easy DIY magnolia wreath serves you well during the holiday season.   You can create a gorgeous wreath even on a small budget and potentially have a wreath for next year!