Autumn is one of the most inspiring seasons. It makes you want to take on a bunch of cooking and decorating projects to make your home warm and festive. I start making wreaths in Autumn as a way to practice for the Christmas wreaths but the truth is I love autumn wreaths even more. You can play with beautiful foliage, branches, and even add a few flowers that are left in the garden from the summer. I love bringing nature home especially at this time of year when you can still enjoy the vibrant colors and relax with a slice of homemade tarte and a cup of tea.
This year we have started growing dahlias in the garden as we wanted to enjoy flowers until late in the year. So, as soon as lockdown was over, we headed to the countryside with bulbs ordered online in the trunk of the car. And this was probably the best « garden decision » we’ve made this year. Those flowers started blooming at the end of August and they still look wonderful while I write this post at the end of September. So I decided to add them to an autumn wreath.
Let’s have a closer look at this tutorial about how to make a beautiful dahlia wreath – it’s quite simple actually!
What you need
Metal wreath circular form
Floral wire
Jute twine
Garden snips
Dahlias (Crème de Cassis, Château de la Bourdaisière, Valentino, Palma…)
Hydrangea
Elderberries
Foliage from the garden
Step 1
Note • Those steps are the same for all wreath tutorials.
Start by gathering all your dahlias, berries and foliage by category. Next, choose a beautiful Hydrangea head and add dahlias all around it to make a small bouquet. Also, add the elderberries in the middle as they tend to fall. Play with colour, height and volume but make sure that it stays flat underneath as it will be fixed on the wire wreath. Tightly tie all the dahlias, berries and foliage together with jute twine and then cut the stems at the bottom. Do not cut them too short as they will be fixed to the structure and you will not see them anyway after the wreath is assemebled.
Step 2
Repeat step 1. Make as many little bouquets as you can. I usually make at least 10 as I know that they will be all quite tightly fixed to the metal wreath. You can opt for different little bouquets; they do not need to have exactly the same flowers nor the same colors. However, make sure that they are still coherent color wise so everything looks pretty altogether.
Step 3
As you make the bouquets, make sure to put them in a vase with water. Dahlias are quite fragile and really need water as soon as they are cut. This wreath will not last as long as others because of the flowers so take the opportunity to provide them with water before tying them on the metal form.
Step 4
Use the floral wire to strongly fix the bouquets to the structure. Make sure the last bouquet is fixed in the opposite direction so it is easier to add the ribbon.
Step 5
DO NOT cut the wire until you have fixed all the bouquets. Then, you can cut the wire and attach it to the form. Add the velvet ribbon or go for a beautiful vintage silk. It is more visually interesting too if the ribbon is not too narrow (consider at least a 5cm (2”) width) and in an autumn color (bordeaux, purple, brown, orange, green…).
And there you have a beautiful dahlia wreath!
