Evergreen plants have long been used to create wreaths for the Christmas holidays. People would symbolize these plants to represent promises of new or everlasting life. Northern Europeans decorated their homes with evergreen during winter months as a living reminder of nature’s vitality. The Victorian era brought an admiration for lavish arrangements of evergreen plants mixed with berries and flowers such as paper whites and amaryllises. At the beginning of the nineteenth century Americans used wreaths of greenery as memorials to honor the dead during the Christmas holidays. Later, the wreaths would be removed by the family members and taken home to adorn the outside of the door as a symbol of the holiday.

Since that time Christmas wreaths have taken on a less morbid symbol of the holiday, yet are still one of the most decorated and festive features of the holiday; laced on the front door to welcome guests and for all to see. Here are some of our favorite examples of wonderful and creative holiday wreaths.

This wreath is one of my favorites.  It is a beautiful Magnolia wreath embellished with pomegranites, a traditional Christmas fruit with recently increased popularity, pinecones, and a beautiful ribbon with printed sheet music.  When described, this wreath sounds very simple, but as you can see it is quite the opposite.

To create a beautiful wreath, all one must do is select one greenery of choice and 3-4 favorite holiday embellishments.  Then combine large amounts of all to create a holiday wreath to remember.

I saw this pinecone wreath when in Providence, Rhode Island last winter.  Luckily, I always have my camera with me for moments like this.  The sheer creativity that went into this wreath is encouraging.  I love when people take some of the most thoughtless activities and then overthink them.

Selecting a holiday wreath has the capability of being one of the most mundane activities of the holiday season.  Let’s not let that be the case.  Think outside the box and create a wonderful centerpiece for the door just as this homeowner has done.

My Mother is a huge fan of this wreath.  As long as I can remember she has been a fan of berry wreathes.  This one is a very natural version of a grapevine and berry wreath with bright green accents of reindeer moss.  This Christmas wreath is probably the easiest on the list to recreate.

Now, I know this isn’t a wreath, but a swag, but I just couldn’t pass it up.  Nothing is more approporiate at the entrance to the house than a pineapple.  The pineapple is the traditional symbol of “Welcome”.  A swag is ideal to be used on any pediment or overdoor, should you not want to use a traditional Christmas wreath.

This snowflake wreath is absolutely bare, but ingeniously so.  How better to show off the shape of such a wonderful wreath than to leave it in its full, natural glory for all to see?  To recreate, simple find a wreath of only one greenery and then attach the tips of branches of the same greenery using floral wire.

This bright pair of wreathes is made of reindeer moss, the same moss used to embellish the berry wreath above.  This season Pottery Barn has a wonderful reindeer moss wreath for sale.  Visit Holiday Decor Ideas to see.

There are not many artificial berry wreaths that I love, but this one is the exception.  Made of multi-colored, frosted metallic berries on a simulated grapevine wreath, it is the leaves that contribute the most to the overall look.  Pair with a matching topiary for a great entry table or sideboard vignette.

Here are two more wreath ideas sent to me by site visitors that I wanted to share.

If you have a holiday wreath displayed on your front door or in your windows that you would like to share with Jonathanklunk.com, please take a photograph of it and e-mail it to us.  The e-mail address is info@jonathanklunk.com.

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