How to make a boxwood wreath CHEAP!

I get my crafty nature from my dad.  He was born into a HUGE Irish family in 1934 during the depression.  With 8 children in the family, John and Rose O’Brien had to be cost conscious.  Here is a picture of my dad with his older brother and sisters.  I love this pic! Doesn’t Uncle Jack look like a little devil?

There is no doubt that today’s “recycle, reuse, re-purpose” lifestyle was born during the depression era.  It was definitely instilled in my dad and his siblings.  It is wonderful to see this revitalization in my children!

Growing up in my house, Dad did everything.  He was the plumber, roofer, electrician (this one was often scary but Wild Willy always got the job done), painter, mason and brick layer…you name it, he did it!  And what was incredible is that he did all of these project and repairs with supplies that were laying around the house.  Soup cans, aluminum foil, paperclips…everything could be used as a tool.

So it is no wonder that I am frugal (yes, cheap-to quote my children)!  With five children, it was important (and still is) to try to make due and save where we could.  I love the feeling of having created something that I saw online with items that I have laying around the house or items picked up at a steal from the local thrift store.

I am constantly drooling over my favorite blogs with all of their cutting edge accessories.  I WISH I could afford to grab $65 boxwood wreath on a whim…someday!  So on my regular trips through the thrift stores in the Birmingham area, I am always looking for DIY supplies for knock offs.

Here are the items I grabbed the other day from America’s Thrift Store in Alabaster.  Fortunately, this store is 2 blocks from The Blue Building so it is like having a treasure trove in my backyard.

I purchased 2 bunches of dark greens for $.39 each, one pic frame still sporting its cardboard corners for $.49, and one grapevine wreath with some greens tucked loosely amid the grapevine for $1.50.  Can you visualize the project???  A boxwood wreath mounted on a wooden frame!  Total for supplies after tax…$3.12.

 I grabbed my trusty staple gun an ten minutes later I had this…

I know it is hard to see in the pic below, but I simply stapled a group of branches to the wooden frame (see the staple in the center of the pic).

To make the wreath fuller and to fill the holes where too much gold frame was showing, I simple lifted the branches that were already stapled to the frame, tucked a bunch beneath them, and stapled them into place.  I lifted branches out of the way and to the side so that I could wiggle my staple gun under already stapled branched.  After securing the branches with the staple gun, I simply moved the previously stapled branches back over top of the newly stapled branch.  This helped to hide the staples amidst the branches.  You can add as much greenery as you like.  I preferred to have some of the gold frame visible.  But, I think a wreath without any of the frame showing would be great as well!

These will look great scattered around my store The Blue Building…especially with spring on the way!