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The Rules:
- Upcycle an item(s) from a thrift store, resale store, or garage sale into a new piece of decor.
- There's no monthly theme.
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How to Make a Barbed Wire Wreath, both large and small!
We are new to our home here in Montana, and with so much that needed to be done, we are just now getting to do a few things we wanted to do! Fun projects like decorating the entryways and the yard. So you might be asking yourself why we would be using our time to use a nest of tangled barbed wire and turn it into a wreath?
This Barbed Wire Wreath is part of decorations along the pathway to our little home, along with a chalkboard Welcome sign, some Shasta Daisies, Rosemary, and a little pot of Chives.
What interesting or off-beat material would you make a wreath out of? As it turns out here lately, wreath-making has exploded with creativity and a fearless attitude! Resulting in some incredible decor to hang in your home or on the front door. True barbed wire might not be your chosen material for a wreath, but come see how it turned out...and why we used it!
Many years ago when my children were young, we lived in the Yakima Valley in the little community of Ahtanum. My kids attended the Ahtanum Grade School, where they learned, made friends, and if I remember correctly we even had one broken bone! Life with kids in the country is always open to new adventures, including a broken bone, or more correctly a greenstick fracture!
We lived out in the country for the freedom to roam and the peace and quiet. We had a couple of rows of concord grapes on our property, and one very lean Christmas I went outside to the grapevines and began making wreaths for Christmas gifts.
Now keep in mind, I had never drawn a perfect circle, much less tried to weave stiff grapevines into circles...
Laying there in a twisted pile, it caught my eye. Quickly my mind went back to Ahtanum and the grapevines that went towards making a happy holiday that year and I knew I needed to give this a try!
But I must tell you, barbed wire is willful! The barbs have a purpose they snag the animal when too close to the fence line and remind them to back up! And they will catch and snag on anything around you, including you!
To assemble:
Cut wire into 3 to 5-foot sections. You want the wire to be long enough to make a circle the circumference you want for size, and have enough additional wire to weave into the circle to secure it firmly.
From there, you simply pick up another piece of wire, and weave it in, stopping between pieces to adjust the shape and decide where to start the next piece of wire.
Choose a good spot to work! As I continued to weave wire pieces in, I realized that I was scratching the picnic table and moved to the tailgate of our truck...at this point I felt the shape, size, and amount of wire are good. Time to decorate it, and there were a couple of changes but finally settled on the one below.
I decided to go with a simple finish on the wreath by our front door...
This simply decorated wreath greets you at our door until we do!
Then with so much wire left, I decided to make another wreath, a large one! Originally I thought about hanging it, but in the end, I stopped weaving when I could not lift it to turn it. And honestly, it became my favorite!
This large Standing Wire Wreath greets you at the beginning of the walkway to our little apartment and was quite the labor of love. I stopped adding to it when it reached the weight I could no longer manage to lift and turn to add another strand of wire...this wreath is approximately 4 feet in diameter.
Roofing tin was cut for the flower, fence wire was bent to make the open leaves. And if you look at the center of the flower, you will recognize a rusty faucet handle and the small section of threaded pipe...When completed, this project was made from materials that were upcycled from a pile of old fencing ready to be hauled away.
Materials used:
old fencing wire, both barbed and non-barbed
old tin roofing
old rusty plumbing parts
Tools needed:
leather gloves
tin snips
bolt cutter - trust me, you want a pair of bolt cutters NOT wire cutters!
patience, the wire is strong-willed!
Make it your own, there are no rules, except have some fun!
And now for more thrifty goodness!
Check out what my fellow upcyclers created below!
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