Learn how to make this simple and beautiful DIY fall wreath using hydrangeas from your yard…or your friend’s yard!
So many of y’all complimented me on this wreath on Instagram, so I thought it was time to make the tutorial available for you here on my blog!
I snagged these beautiful and free hydrangeas from my mom’s yard. She has this huge hydrangea bush that is gorgeous and produces tons of flowers. I cut lots of them off in the summer to use throughout my home.
Once they dried in September, I thought I would try out using dried hydrangeas.
This was my first time using dried hydrangeas for a project and I picked up some tips along the way that I wanted to share with you.
If you want to use dried hydrangeas, the key is to figure out the right time to cut them off your bush.
You want to wait until they feel dry on the bush and just start turning brown.
The goal is to not have any brown on them when you cut them.
I cut the hydrangeas for this project WAY too late in the season when they were barely on their last leg and were already super brown.
Since so many leaves turned brown already I decided to still use them and spray paint them to cover the brown.
I got the idea to do a wreath because I had the supplies on hand, so it would mean a completely free fall project for me.
HERE’S HOW TO MAKE THIS DIY FALL WREATH USING HYDRANGEAS:
1. GATHER SUPPLIES
For this project, you’ll need:
- dried hydrangeas cut off your hydrangea bush
- grapevine wreath
- spray paint (I used cinnamon by Rustoleum)
- additional paint if you want to have multiple colors on your wreath
2. SPRAY PAINT HYDRANGEAS
I chose a beautiful orange tone for my hydrangeas because I wanted them to match the mums I bought for my front porch.
I love the color cinnamon by Rustoleum. It’s the perfect fall color, and I happened to have it on hand from a previous project.
Spread out your hydrangeas on some newspaper. Here’s what mine looked like:
As you can see, there was a lot of brown on them. The spray paint took care of that!
Simply spray an even coat on them, covering up all the brown.
3. PAINT ANY ADDITIONAL COLORS IF YOU WANT
I wanted some subtle red hues in my wreath so I dabbed some red paint on my hydrangeas after the orange color dried.
Using a paint brush did not work great because the leaves were so dry that if I pressed too hard on them, they fell off. This took a lot of patience and a soft paint application. Keep this in mind if you want to add some other colors on your wreath. Spray paint is really the way to go for this project.
4. CUT THE STEMS DOWN AND STICK IN WREATH AS YOU GO
This part takes a little trial and error because you want to stick the hydrangea steams in your grapevine wreath so that they fit well and snug.
Sometimes you’ll have to snip the stems back a little more if they’re too long to fit in the wreath.
Here’s how mine looked about halfway done.
Just keep inserting them until you have a nice full hydrangea wreath, like this:
5. APPLY TOUCH UP PAINT
As you can see above, there was still a lot of green and brown on my hydrangeas because when I stuck them in the wreath I had to turn some over and use the side that was face down when I originally spray painted them.
I just applied some touch up paint and it was done!
So simple and easy.
Once it dried, I hung it on my door.
I love how it turned out! It’s the perfect DIY fall wreath if you’re looking for a pop of color and want to be budget-friendly.
