Make a Wreath from Plastic Flowers

A quick and easy wreath that makes a lovely decoration or a nice house warming gift.

Materials
You will need1 Dozen long stem (1.5-2 foot) plastic flowers like forsythia, 3 yards of aluminum electric fence wire and green craft or acrylic paint that closely matches the stems and leaves of the flowers. Optional: 6-12 stems of plastic foliage or smaller flowers

Tools
Wire cutters and pliers will come in handy, as will a small craft paint brush.

Form
Start by cutting off one yard of the wire. Bend each end of the wire into an open loop, and then bend the whole piece into a large circle. Hook it together by the loops you made. Cut the other two yards into 12 three inch pieces. These will be used to connect the flowers to the wire circle and to create a loop for hanging. Bend one of the three inch lengths into an open loop and wrap it around the connecting loops of the form. Twist the ends together in front of the circle, leaving enough loop at the back to slide a nail or plant hook through.

One Flower
Starting to the right of the loop you just made, wind one of the stems around the wire circle, just until you reach the flowers. Secure with one of the short wires at both ends of the twist. Slide a second stem into the second piece of short wire and wind it around just as you did the first time. Use a small wire to secure it and the flowered section of the first stem at both ends. Repeat until the circle is completely covered with flowers. If you have leftover flowers, you may make a second row.

Two Flowers
Take one long stem and one short stem and put them so the stem ends line up. Twist them together around the wire circle as discussed above, continuing the wrapping until you reach the beginning of the flowers from the long stem, not the short one.

Paint all the bare wire that is visible from the front of the wreath with the green paint. Make sure to get the small pieces as well as the big circle.

Variations
For a thicker wreath, you can wrap the wire circle in dried pine needles or small twigs before adding the flowers. You may need to use four inch pieces of wire instead of three for this. You may want to substitute brown paint for green, but it isn't necessary.