All Twisted Up - Grape Vine Wreath

All Twisted Up 

The Grapevine Wreath

 Welcome Back! 

It has been a while since we have had a new post up. The new, in person, farmer's markets and craft fairs have been taking up quite a bit of time. So, it is with great excitement that we introduce our newest guest blogger, G.A.P. Please note this is not the clothing store, though any such confusion might be understandable given how beautiful this wreath is. So, without further ado, let's watch G.A.P. make a wreath.

Here’s an idea for a last-minute door decoration. 

I had seen sprigs of sparkly fall leaves at Walmart and wondered how I could use them. I had limited time and little opportunity to do more shopping, so I went foraging in my own backyard and looked for what I could use around the house. [Note from Mile Wide Crafts: Similar sprigs of autumn leaves are available at many stores. Check the floral section of your favorite store.]

As I went foraging, this is what I took with me:  2 sizes of clippers (long and short), leather work gloves, lightweight wire and tin snips to cut the wire.

Tools needed to harvest a wild grape vine.

What I found was wild grapevine, growing up into overhanging trees.  I pulled it down, my sturdy leather gloves protecting my hands.  This vine was not too thick, measuring about the thickness of my little finger. It measured about 20 feet long. 

The yellow arrows mark the grape vine in situ

Sometimes grapevine is so thick that you can barely get one circle out of it.  I knew I had to be flexible in accepting whatever my foraging turned up.  But this vine was pretty easy to use.  Since it was green wood, it was fairly easy to bend into a loop the size that I wanted.

I started from the butt, or thickest, end and holding the loop in one gloved hand, I used the other hand to gently wrap the loop with the long end of the vine.  Grapevine has a mind of its own so I was careful to keep a firm hand on the loop at all times.

Grape vine coil, nearly finished

Here I am reaching the end of the vine

I secured the end of the vine to the loop with flexible wire. I used banzai wire but you could use whatever flexible wire or good sturdy twine that you have at hand.  I thought I might have to wrap the entire loop with wire to keep the grapevine together but it held together beautifully.  Since it is green wood, its shape may change as it dries. But for right now, it’s fine!
[Note from Mile Wide Crafts: If your grape vine has side branches, you can used these to secure the coil, too.]

Please note the curling tendrils present on grape vine, but absent on poison ivy

With my hand clippers I trimmed the ends of the vine, cutting them at an angle and tucking them in.

Here is an opportunity to discuss the characteristics of wild grapevine.  Someone on the Internet has noted that wild grapevine resembles wild Poison Ivy!  Grapevine will have curly tendrils and on a mature vine, the outside will begin to flake off in strips. 

I decided I wanted a natural look for my door decoration so I left the tendrils on and trimmed it only enough to have it conform generally to a circle.

Grape vine wreath form, trimmed and secured with wire

I decided I was happy with my hour of work.

Sprigs of fall leaves and a ribbon bow decorating the wreath

Now was time for decorating.  I could have continued to forage, but I decided to use the sprigs of fall leaves.  First, I cut them into manageable units with my tin snips.  Then, I looked through my ribbons and found one of the approximate size but bright yellow. I toned it down with a little copper spray enamel.  I could have used hot glue to attach everything securely to the grapevine, but since I was happy with my project, I decided to just tuck everything in and tie on the ribbon. I’ll reuse the grapevine wreath form for perhaps another seasonal door decoration.

Completed wreath and optional frog

This was a simple project. It took me the better part of an afternoon. I got some exercise in the fresh air, and my out of pocket cost was 97 cents each for 2 sprigs of sparkly fall leaves.

Note from Mile Wide Crafts:
If you are short on wild grape vine, come have a chat with me at one of my market appearances or send me an email.  I can hook you up as long as someone else doesn't ask first. ;)
If you are willing to settle for something other than wild grape vine, vine wreath forms are available at many local craft stores, normally in the floral section. Some may even be grape vines.

Thanks for Reading and Happy Crafting!

As always, if you have questions, please send me an email or leave me a comment below. If you make a wreath of your own, we'd love to see a picture.