How to Refurbish an Old Wreath with Good Bones

 Are any of you like me and keep old Christmas decorations from year to year?  If you do, you know that sometimes they get long-in-the-tooth, and you find that you either need to throw them out or fix them up a bit.  Such was the case of the wreath below.  I made this wreath many years ago and always liked it but, when I placed it on a wall it often seemed to be a little lackluster.  It has been a number of years since I have actually used it, however.  I wanted to make a small decorating change to the kitchen hearth area this Christmas season and decided to give the wreath a try again and improve it if I could.

I used the same ribbon but re-made the bow and placed it in a new spot on the wreath.  Some of the artificial berries were in disrepair and needed replacing.  I also wanted to use new accoutrements to make it jazzier so, I set out to Hobby Lobby to take a look-see at what might be available. 

These were the picks I found.  I love, love, loved the velvet covered spheres!  I thought 

they were so chic!

These berry picks were great to use because I could separate out each stem making them

 very cost effective. 

You can see here how I would eventually have four berry stems to use instead of one.

For the most part I placed the new berries over the old ones since they were solidly glued 

into the wreath.  Where it was easy to do, I cut off the old berries and also covered them 

with the new ones.  I glued everything into the wreath.

I cut the gold picks into sections and divided the velvet ball picks into two, 3-piece sections.

The end result was this ↓.  As you can see, I did not end up using the white picks I had purchased.  

I didn't think they looked good on the wreath.  I ended up using them elsewhere.

I hung the wreath over the hearth in the kitchen.

Here are closer photos to show you where I added in the new berries and 

gold picks and velvet spheres.

It did not take me very long to improve the old wreath.  You only need strong wire cutters,

 a glue gun and an idea of what you want the wreath to look like when you are done, working off

the bones of the old wreath.

I admit I have given the kitchen hearth area a more vintage look this year rather than a modern one, but my husband and I are enjoying it.  The fireplace kind of lends itself to this kind of decor anyway. 

 So, why fight it?!

So don't throw away your old wreaths if they still have some life left in them. 

 It can be a fun

exercise to create something new out of something old.