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Make A Stunning Dried Hydrangea Wreath
Dried hydrangea wreaths are so beautiful and versatile in a
home, and a lot of fun to make as well.
You can either purchase already dried hydrangea flowers from
your local craft store, or you can dry your own. The biggest
trick when drying your own is the timing of when you pick the
flowers. It is best to pick them right before you anticipate your
first fall frost. If you pick them mid-summer, they just will not
dry correctly.
You can either hang them upside down in a darkened room to
dry, or you can set them in a vase upright, even adding a tiny
bit of water in the bottom of the vase, although even that is
optional. As long as they are picked at the correct time, it's
difficult to fail with them. It's fun if you can, to pick several
blooms from different bushes, as it will provide a nice variety
of colors to the wreath. After they are dried, pick off any dead
/ discolored brown blooms.
Now, pick the type of base you want to use for a wreath. My
personal favorites are either Styrofoam or grapevine type wreath
bases. Take some floral wire and wrap it around the wreath, then
form a loop of the wire to hang from the wall, and then wrap the
wreath again. You might try hanging it from the wall at this
point to make sure it lies correctly, and then make any needed
adjustments while the wreath is bare.
To do a Styrofoam wreath, use a low melt point hot glue gun.
Separate each bloom into smaller florets. Hot glue each floret
into the wreath base, actually poking the stem down into the
Styrofoam base. With each bloom, space it out over the surface of
the wreath, for example; a floret at the top, next left side,
bottom, then right side, then inside the circle of the wreath,
and outside of the wreath. Continue to do this with each bloom
until you fill it.
Balance is what you are looking for. Balance in shape, you
don't want any sticking out way above the others, you don't want
one side of the wreath to be fuller than the other. Try stepping
back and looking at a distance and just think "balance of
shape".
The second area to look for is balance of color. This is the
purpose of doing each bloom all over, then filling in, so you
achieve that balance of color. Give another once over to check on
that.
Now, this wreath is either finished, or you can add perhaps
add small sprigs of dried baby's breath to it.
Really depends on the look you want. Sometimes the simplicity
of only the hydrangeas is stunning.
For a grapevine wreath, it's the same principal but a
different look. You can tie a bow on the wreath if you want (if
you do, do so before adding flowers), or ribbon. I like to leave
bare spaces on these to be able to see the grapevine portion as
well. Again, look for balance. You can also add dried roses to it
or any other type of dried flowers or grasses too. You can get
really creative with these and come up with very different looks.
Experiment to your heart's content.
Many times people expect dried floral arrangements to last
forever, and are disappointed when they start looking bad after a
few years. This is a misconception. Expect them to look good for
about a year, that's really about all they were meant to
last.
If they are in direct sunlight it will be a much shorter time.
However, the next year, feel free to strip the old flowers off,
and make another with the same base for another year's worth of a
gorgeous hand made wreath!
By Valerie Garner-Mother, grandmother and candlemaker / owner
of Joyful Designs in Soy. She loves to write on a variety of
topics with a warm, and engaging style. http://www.joyfuldesignsinsoy.com
 MORE RESOURCES updated Wed. May / 12 / 2021
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