DIY Advent Wreath

Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas, is a time of preparation for celebrating the birth of Jesus. Many churches and families light a candle each week during the Advent season, and some families also open various types of Advent calendars that contain candy, money, or other treats each day throughout December. Here’s how you can create your own DIY Advent Wreath to decorate your home and prepare your heart for Christmas.

How to Make a DIY Advent Wreath

Traditional advent wreaths contain four candles around the circle; three purple and one pink. Many also have a white Christ candle in the center. Here are the traditional meanings of the candles.

Week 1 (purple) – Hope/Prophecy
Week 2 (purple) – Peace/Bethlehem
Week 3 (pink) – Joy/Shepherds
Week 4 (purple) – Love/Angels
Christmas Eve (white) – Christ

Let’s gather the supplies below and create our own DIY Advent Wreath to light throughout the season.

Materials

artificial Christmas wreath – mine is 18″
metal advent candle holder
4-5 assorted faux pine/evergreen stems (each one should be different)
hot glue gun and glue sticks
wire cutters
taper candles – mine are flameless, from Amazon

These are the four specific greens I used, all from Michaels:
Green Cedar and Red Berry
Pine and Pinecone Glitter
Glitter Pine Stem
Mistletoe Bush

Instructions

Place your metal candle holder ring inside the wreath from the bottom.

Mine was a tight fit, but you can use glue or wire to secure it if necessary. Arrange the branches so that they surround the four outside candle holders.

Start with one type of faux branches (I used the long, thin Pine and Pinecone Glitter one first), and cut them apart into smaller pieces.

Glue the branches into the wreath, tucking them into the existing greens.

It looks best to have all the branches going in the same direction, in this case, clockwise around the wreath.

Repeat with the other types of greens.

The next one I used was the Glitter Pine Stem, which had very short, fluffy pieces. I tucked these into various spots around the wreath, spacing them out and gluing them in place.

Continue adding different types of greenery, spacing them out around the wreath to add variety of color and texture.

I added the juniper and berries, then finished with the mistletoe. Make sure as you fill in the spaces that all four candle holders are still accessible.

Keep adding branches and berries until the wreath looks full and varied.

Add your candles.

I chose flameless, battery operated ones for our church’s wreath. You can, of course, light real candles, just be sure not to leave them unattended.

That’s all there is to it! Now your wreath is ready to light and enjoy throughout the Advent season.

Crafting Tips

• Use this same technique, minus the metal ring and candles, to spruce up any wreath for the wall or the front door!
• Make your wreath unique by adding pinecones, ornaments, or silk flowers.
• The more different types of greenery you use, the more full and interesting your wreath will be!

Frequently Asked Questions

More Christmas Ideas

If you enjoyed this project, here are some other ideas to help you celebrate the Christmas season.

If you try any of these projects, I’d love to see how they turn out! Make sure you’re part of the Amy Latta & Friends Facebook Group where we can all share project photos and inspire one another. Hope to see you there!