Thrifty Thursday: DIY Fall Wreath and Floral Arrangement

Last Updated on October 21, 2020 by Stacy Averette

A DIY wreath and faux floral arrangement is a fun and easy way to decorate your home in every season. The projects I’m sharing today are budget-friendly, too. I hope you get inspired to be creative, decorate your home, and save money in the process!

DIY Wreath

I don’t do much outdoor decorating, especially the kind that requires changing with every new season. My house has several steps leading up to the small covered stoop at the front door so there really isn’t much room for adding decor. A wreath on the door is about as far as I go with outdoor seasonal decor.

The pretty wreaths I see in the stores, even T.J. Maxx and Ross, are at least $20 or way more and I’m always thinking, “I can create one myself for a lot less than that!”

When I’m thrifting I always keep an eye out for nice grapevine wreaths, pretty silk flowers, and other items that I can add to a wreath. I don’t mind if they have ugly flowers and ribbon. They can easily be removed!

Here’s a wreath I purchased a while back: U. G. L. Y

I’m sure this was a beautiful wreath at some point but I could see the potential behind the smashed flowers and faded ribbon.

The flowers were attached with hot glue so they popped off easily. Here’s what I ended up with:

I had an idea of what I wanted and I’d seen some faux flowers at Walmart that I thought would work. I chose this bunch and it was only $5.

I used these floral wire cutters I bought at Walmart and snipped the stems into individual pieces. I left the stems long but ended up cutting them shorter once I knew where I’d place them.

Sorry, but I don’t have photos of the assembly process.  Basically, I just stick the stems into the wreath, starting with the biggest flowers first, until it looks the way I want it to! If your going to hang your wreath indoors, then all you need to do is snip the stems shorter and add a ribbon if you like.

I knew my wreath would hang outdoors and need to withstand wind and possibly rain so I use my hot glue gun to attach the stems. My process for that is pretty easy, too.

Once I have it assembled and long stems snipped as needed, I carefully disassemble it and lay the pieces out on my table in the same shape and order as I had them in the wreath. (You could even take a photo with your phone if you need a reminder of how you had everything placed.)

Again, starting with the biggest flowers, I spread hot glue along the backside of the stem and stick it back into the wreath. (You can add extra hot glue directly to the stem and wreath but I usually don’t do that.) Once each piece is glued in place, you’re done! Occasionally, I add a decorative ribbon, but most of the time I keep it simple and natural.

I love using command hooks for hanging wreaths, too! These are my favorites. They’re clear and almost invisible. (affiliate link)

Here’s the finished product:

A beautiful fall wreath for less than $10 and I had so much fun creating it! Every piece you see on the wreath was part of the single $5 bunch I bought!

It looks great hanging at our office above the old church pew I found at a yard sale years ago.

If you want to make your own wreath but don’t have time to thrift, I found several options for grapevine wreaths at walmart.com. They’re very reasonably priced. Click here for the link.

They have some really pretty fall wreaths for less than $20, too, if you’re don’t want to make your own. I never see these at my local stores! Here’s the link if you want to check them out. 

[I’m not a Walmart affiliate so these are not affiliate links. I just like to share good stuff with you when I find it!!]

Faux Floral Arrangements

I love buying fresh flowers for my home and having real ferns, peace lilies, and pothos in the rooms where we spend a lot of time. But I also love the look of faux floral arrangements in my home and at our office. Thankfully, faux florals have come a loooong way.

Back when we had cable TV and I’d watch the home and garden shows, I remember the designers had very strong, negative feelings about using faux plants and flowers in home decor. I can’t say that I blame them. I still cringe when I see some fake flowers.

However, Hobby Lobby and even Walmart have some gorgeous faux flowers and I’ve been using them more and more lately to make wreaths and floral arrangements.

I bought several of these from Walmart for $3 each:

Here’s an arrangement I made for the office:

A metal planter that I found at a thrift store near Gulf Shores earlier this year, some dried Spanish moss I already had, and three stems of the fall flowers from Walmart came together nicely.

I inserted floral foam bricks to fit snugly in the planter and inserted the three stems randomly. Once they were securely in place, I played around with the arrangement, bending the smaller stems as needed.

Each bunch has a variety of flowers, dried greenery, berries, etc. I think it makes it so much easier to arrange and I don’t have to buy lots of individual pieces to fill in and add texture.

The Spanish moss tucked around the edges added a nice finishing touch.

I love how it turned out and it makes me smile every time I walk into the room.

Plus I have the joy of knowing I made it myself and the satisfaction of knowing I didn’t overspend my budget!

You might like to read the post: Where To Thrift Near Orange Beach and Gulf Shores

I used two more bunches of the same faux florals to create an arrangement for our home.

This time I started with a vintage wicker bicycle basket I found at a yard sale. I didn’t know exactly how I would use the basket when I bought it, but I know when I find something I like and the price is right ($1), I’ll find a way to use it! This basket definitely spoke to me and I’m glad!

For this arrangement, I simply stuck the remaining two bunches of faux florals in the basket and called it done!

So pretty!!

Thanks for letting me share my DIY Fall Wreath and Faux Floral Arrangements! I love creating pretty pieces for our home and office and staying on budget, too! My desire is to inspire you to use your God-given imagination and creativity to make your home a happy reflection of YOU!

My schedule is full these days but I’ve learned how important it is for me to always be working on some type of creative project. Even just a few minutes spend sorting through my thrifted finds or redecorranging a shelf or mantel does my heart good. I’ll bet it does yours, too!

Don’t believe the lie that you have to have lots of time or money to create something you love. And as The Nester is famous for saying, “It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.”

I’ve linked up today with Richella at Imparting Grace. Click here to find lots of good posts about

• DIY projects
• decorating
• recipes
• hospitality
• homemaking tips
• parenting
• marriage
• faith
• self-care
• soul care