Fresh Magnolia Wreath (revised 10/19, original 2015)
If you live in the south, or even other places in the country you will see magnificent Magnolia trees. The Magnolia tree is the state tree for Mississippi so we are especially in love with them. We made this fresh magnolia wreath using pieces we cut from low hanging branches. A fresh wreath will last for several days and they smell lovely!
Supplies
Magnolia Branches - cut more than you think you'll need. (We cut enough branches to fill up a 55 gal garbage bag over half full)
Box Wire Wreath Form - any size (We used a 16")
Floral Wire (Paddle Wire, wire that is wound around a card, all in one piece - not single wire pieces)
RG1364 Mississippi Printed Ribbon (no longer available, but you could use other styles of ribbon)
RA128418 4″ Natural Jute Mesh Ribbon (no longer available, but you could use other styles)
Ribbon Suggestions:
SS13907 2" Natural Cream Striped Cotton Ribbon
X963040-15 2.5" Natural Linen Argyle
Cut Branches
Magnolia branches should be around 12" in length. The fresh branches will only last a few days but, there is a way to condition the branches to last longer. We didn't condition the branches for this fresh Magnolia wreath, but we did find an article on how to do this. It's listed toward the bottom of the blog.
Branches that contain buds should be used on the inner ring of the box wire wreath because they are heavier and need to be secured well.
We used a 1
6" Box Wire Wreath Form for the fresh Magnolia wreath. Box wire wreath forms are just plain inexpensive wreath forms that are raised in the center. They have no twist ties. We added branches to the inner and middle rings.
Paddle Wire
Secure paddle wire to the wreath frame and start with your first Magnolia branch. Lay the branch flat down on the inner ring and start wrapping the wire around the branch, going around the entire wreath from.
Wrap the wire tightly several times starting about 6" away from the tips of the leaves and gradually work down to the ends of the branch. You can wrap two branches at a time by placing a second branch along the middle wire and holding both branches.
Take a third and fourth branch and lay the third branch down on top of the first branch positioning it over the wires where the first branch was attached. Lay the fourth branch down over the branch on the middle ring, staggering it just to where it covers up the previous wires.
Continue adding branches around the fresh Magnolia wreath until you work back to where you started. The branches will be layered around the wreath, since each new branch covers up the wires from the previous branch.
Add the last couple of branches, by pushing the leaves out of the way from the first branches and secure the ends of your last branch. The leaves from the first branch should cover them up.
When the last branches have been added, snip the wire with wire cutters and secure the loose end around the box wire wreath form.
You can make a hanger for the fresh Magnolia wreath using wire. To make it stronger, double it a couple of times. You can also sure cable ties (zip ties).
Hang the wreath and step back and look. Check it for any loose branches that might not be secured well and reinforce as needed.
Branches with heavy buds might need a little extra securing because they are heavier.
Ribbon
Add a bow to the fresh Magnolia wreath with your choice of ribbon. You can make a simple loop bow of the ribbon or a typical wreath bow.
Our bow was made on the
Large ProBow bowmaker. Sorry we didn't include that part in the video, but we do have several different bow tutorials that you can watch.
Tutorials
We used a 4" Natural Jute Mesh which was completely wired and flexible, making it a wider width than 4". This exact ribbon is no longer available, but we have hundreds of styles of ribbon you can choose from.
Ribbon
Conditioning Leaves
Here's a great article on
Conditioning Evergreen with Woody Stems. I have never tried to condition Magnolia leaves for a fresh wreath but I have used the floor wax technique and it really gave a nice shine and coating to the leaves.
Just put some liquid floor wax wax in a spray bottle and wet the leaves. Do this outside and spread on newspaper until dry. Magnolia leaves have lasted through the holiday season for me using this technique. They do get brittle toward the end. Liquid floor wax gives a nice shine to natural Nandina berries too. It gives them a glossy look.
Summary
The fresh magnolia wreath makes a beautiful, fragrant wreath for most any occasion. It will last for 3-4 days, maybe longer depending on the environment.
Once the leaves have died, you can just clip the wires, remove the leaves and use your wreath form again and again. There have been times that we've sprayed painted a dried out Magnolia wreath with gold or silver paint also.
Hope you enjoyed our Magnolia wreath....we're always proud to say we're from Mississippi! So.....y'all come on to the back porch and lets have a glass of iced tea)))
If you have any questions or comments, just leave us not and we'll do our best to answer. Thanks for visiting Trendy Tree!
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