Easy Valentine’s Day Wreath with Dollar Store Supplies

Neutral Valentine’s Wreath for the Front Door

Today I am sharing how to make a Valentine’s wreath DIY in a heart shape in simple neutral colors. I am using wire, faux eucalyptus branches, and garlands left over from my craft stash. The supplies were originally purchased at the dollar store. It’s been freezing here the last couple of weeks with temperatures around minus 50C, so no craft store visits for me. I am using what I have.

Although I created this wreath for free, even when buying all the DIY wreath supplies it’s still going to be a very affordable and pretty Valentine’s wreath DIY and simple Valentine’s Day decor. I chose eucalyptus because I have some on hand, and love that you could use the all green handmade wreath on your front door any time of year.

How to Make a DIY Valentine’s Wreath

I have included an easy tutorial with step-by-step instructions, including a YouTube video, so you can make the wreath along with me. Let’s talk about the supplies you can use.

DIY Valentine Wreath Supplies

If you don’t have the exact supplies on hand as always I recommend swapping out whatever you can. Don’t have coat hangers, use thick wire, don’t have floral wire or floral tape use green pipecleaners or twist ties instead. If you don’t have fabric ribbon, use burlap or cut lace. I’m sure you get the idea. Here is what I used

Step 1 –  Make the Heart-shaped Wire Wreath Frame

Form the Wire into a Circle

If you find a heart shaped wire form, take the easy way and skip this step. Otherwise, I think I found the perfect way to make a Valentine’s Day heart shaped form. We start by forming the wire into a circle.

Take any heavy gauge wire you have on hand and make a heart shaped wreath form. I used two wire coat hangers. If you’re using a wire hanger, cut the ends off where it’s twisted, straighten it as much as possible first, and then mold it around a bowl.

The first step is to create a circle with the wire about 14 inches across. I used a metal bowl as a template to form my circle. The solid bowl acts like a form and gives you something to press against. Use duct tape to secure the start of the wire, then work the wire around the bowl to form the circle, adding duct tape as you go.

Once you have the circle the way you want it, connect the first two wire ends. The hanger wire is strong, so do your best to twist the hanger wire together first, then use craft wire to wrap and secure the ends together. Then, to prevent it from sliding, add a bead of hot glue, and finally wrap with floral tape.

Once you have a circle with the ends attached, carefully remove the wire from the bowl. Add more wire wraps as needed and remove any remaining duct tape.

Form the Wire into a Heart Shape

Once you have a circle with the ends attached, carefully remove the wire from the bowl.

Now we will form the Valentine’s heart shape. Begin with something stable, like a nail hammered into a scrap piece of wood. Place the wood against something very stable, such as a wall. Find the spot almost straight across from where the wires are attached and slowly push it in against the nail. Work the heart shape with your hands to smooth it as much as possible. It doesn’t need to be perfect, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well this process worked.

Step 2 – Adding the Eucalyptus Greenery

The rest is both an easy craft and a great way to spend some time crafting for Valentine’s Day. Set one branch of eucalyptus aside. Do not attach the eucalyptus to your heart shaped frame yet. Instead, shape each branch of eucalyptus to match the curve of your wreath frame. Continue to bend the eucalyptus to follow the shape of the heart frame. Once that’s done, adjust the eucalyptus so the amount of leaves is even on both sides. We don’t want the leaves thick on one side and thin on the other. Adjust the placement if you need to and ensure you have enough greenery.

Attaching the Eucalyptus to the Wire Frame

Start at the top of the heart where we made it dip in the middle. Attach the end of the eucalyptus stem with some floral wire. Repeat on the other end.

Overlap the next piece of eucalyptus over the previous stem. Work your way around the wreath base, attaching both ends of each stem to the wire frame. Work from the top of the heart down one side, then return to the top and work down the other side. Don’t worry if you have any branches left over. We will bend or trim them at the end.

Take some floral wire and attach the stems to the wreath every six inches, making sure it’s tucked in behind a leaf. For wires near the end of the branches, it’s a good idea to keep them from sliding with a dab of hot glue. Do this for the entire wreath.

I loved creating my own wreath in soft neutral green colors. I think neutrals are a great choice for Valentine’s Day decorations because they can be used throughout the year, and if you’re making a gift, it works well for anyone.

Step 3  – Adding The Pretty Ribbon Hanger and Final Tweaking

I first considered using some leftover burlap ribbon, but I still had some sage green ribbon I am very fond of, so I used it instead. Instead of creating a hanger on the back of the wreath, I did something a bit different for this Valentine’s wreath.

Begin by tying the ribbon around your wreath and secure it with a knot, then make a loose knot an inch above the first one. Tie a second knot. Finally, leave a six inch space and tie the third loop with a knot. Cut the ends to make a small fishtail.

Make a long bow by folding a piece of ribbon six inches in both directions and secure it with hot glue. Then fold four inches both ways and secure it with more glue. I had to use the ribbon I had on hand, so I glued the ties to the back of my ribbon before securing it around the middle with a piece of wire. Once secured, feed half the ribbon, meaning one tail and two loops, through the first loose loop you made. That’s it.

Because the Valentine’s wreath was made using inexpensive eucalyptus branches, it could be that many of the leaves are facing backward, showing the unfinished side. As a final step, take needle nose pliers and twist the leaves around at the stem, or secure them with hot glue. This final part makes your wreath look more polished and only takes about ten minutes to do.

 
If you prefer to watch a full tutorial with step-by-step instructions and craft along with me, I have created a YouTube video for you as well.

Some Other Perfect Valentine’s Day Crafts to Try