Recycling our old Christmas tree into a festive wreath

Our family have always been an ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ kind of family. So, when mum and dad came home with a new artificial Christmas tree, I was a bit shocked! The old one was still entirely intact, albeit a bit big when you’ve got two massive dogs doing the zoomies around it.

I also thought about the plastic element, and knew I wanted to do something to recycle the tree that we’ve loved for years.

I decided to try and turn it into a wreath – after all, I loved making one with Pretty Pricks last year.

There were some things I already had at home, but I ordered wreath rings, dried orange slices, cinnamon sticks online. Everything came to about a tenner, and there was enough to make more than one or to use as blog props.

To make the main wreath, I used floristry wire, washi tape and 7 – 8 of the smaller tree branches that would usually click into the main tree pole.

I started off attaching the branches at an angle, and securing (I use the word loosely) with floristry wire. I overlapped each branch, trying to ensure I’d covered all the metal bits. After securing with floristry wire, I would wrap it with washi tape for added security and to prevent the wire from sticking out.

Getting the branches on was the hard bit, but the flexibility in the wire meant it was easy to cover up gaps, metal edges and tape.

To decorate, I affixed pinecones, orange slices, bundles of cinnamon sticks and some baubles. I finished it off with a big red ribbon, and it now proudly hangs from our garden gate.

I hope to keep this wreath as long as we had the tree, and each year, I can switch up the decorations if I like, as it’s simply a matter of snipping the floristry wire and adding something fresh!