Create Fabulous Fall Wreaths

Seedpods collected from your yard or roadside plants (or for more exotic pods, a crafts store) add interesting shapes, textures and colors to fall arrangements.Purchase a grapevine wreath and then tuck in seedpod stems or hot-glue them into the vines. This wreath uses milkweed, leaves and red winged seedpods from a Japanese maple, tallow berries from a crafts store, scarlet oak foliage, a lotus pod, evening primrose stalks, jimsonweed (Datura stramonium), and seedpods from a honey locust tree.

Colorful embroidery thread cocoons the branches of these rattan wreaths, a modern update on basic grapevine. Buy them bare at a crafts or home decor store (we found ours at shopterrain.com), and choose wraps that complement your decor. For the season, swap out a few picture frames on a wall with your DIY wreaths.

So simple, but cheerful! Transform a grapevine wreath into a bright fall display by trimming the stems of your flowers so they are just short enough to weave into the vines of the wreath. We used marigolds, but you could experiment with mums or other fall blooms. Accent with pumpkins.

Fashion a fall wreath using mini pumpkins, gourds and faux leaves. Start with a straw wreath form. Tap a nail into each pumpkin and gourd to create a small hole. Remove the nail and insert a toothpick into each hole; coat other end of the toothpick with hot glue and insert it into the wreath form. Fill empty spaces with hot-glued silk leaves.

Beforehand, get a straw wreath form and dye your husks. (We used Rit dye in Charcoal.) A 1-pound pack of husks does the job.Make shapes Use our instructions (previous slide) to create flowers. Then cut out leafy shapes to cover the wreath.Plan the design Try an asymmetrical composition for visual interest. Make more flowers or leaves if needed. Cover the base Add overlapping layers of leaf shapes, attaching with floral pins until the wreath is covered.Finish it up Use hot glue to attach flowers. Let dry completely, then seal all sides with polyurethane spray.

Press mum flower stems into a foam florist's wreath form that has been saturated with water. Add an exclamation point by hanging the wreath with a bold flannel scarf.

Create this beautiful fall wreath with a variety of materials that reflect autumn's hues: gold, red, orange and brown.Both your yard and a crafts store should provide a bounty of choices. A mix of fresh and dried materials looks lovely, but a wreath of all dried materials lasts longer.Lightly soak a 10- or 12-inch ring of Oasis floral foam in water. Group your materials by color to plan each section of the wreath, then insert materials by the stems. We used tree leaves and fresh mums for red and orange bands of color, tree leaves and dried yarrow for gold, and dried oak leaves and pinecones for brown. Hot glue or T-pins help hold materials in place.

Surround a head of kale with faux apples, seedpods and leaves on a foam base. Use glue, pins or floral wire to secure decorations to the base.

String apples and pinecones on a circle of heavy-gauge wire and top with a country bow and bouquet of white pine boughs. The juxtaposition between the shiny apples and spiky pinecones is both eye-catching and festive.

An easy DIY leaf swag adds glam to your front door (or an interior spot, if your front door is exposed to a lot of wind and rain).Use a foam brush to cover leaves with crafts glue, coat with glitter and shake off excess. Let dry. Cut wire-edge ribbon into 20-inch pieces and hot-glue a glittery leaf to each end. Gather ribbon ends and knot at the top.

A wall gains harvest style from this wreath that resembles a sunburst.Soak corn husks in water until they are pliable, then tear into 1- to 2-inch-wide strips. Starting from the outer edge of a 14-inch straw wreath form, secure rows of strips with dressmaker pins. Overlap each row to hide pins. For the last row, pin strips to the back and bend to cover the inside edge. Strips hold their shape when dry. (Tip: Buy packs of dried corn husks (used to make tamales) in the international foods section of a grocery store or at Walmart.)

Turn a crafts-store wood frame into a harvest wreath. Hot-glue Brazil nuts, hazelnuts and acorns to the frame. Hang with a chocolate-hue ribbon.

For a wreath that lasts from fall through Christmas, try this brown and gold arrangement.Wire dried artichokes, lotus pods and pinecones to the bottom of a grapevine wreath. Tuck brown- and gold-tinted magnolia leaves (from a crafts store) between twigs. If needed, secure leaves with hot glue. A glittery bird ornament perched on a pinecone (and secured with wire) adds shimmer.

Personalize a purchased twig-and-bittersweet wreath with a couple of simple touches. Wrap the wreath with satin ribbon (an easy look to change out!) and add a twine-wrapped monogram letter inside if you like.

The unusual shape of this harvest-themed wreath makes it a standout door decoration.Cut away about one-fifth of a plastic foam wreath to create the shape. Wrap yellow seam-binding ribbon around the wreath. Hot-glue fresh or preserved green salal leaves (commonly called lemon leaf) to the wreath, covering it completely. Glue a cluster of nuts to the bottom center, then add dried wheat, preserved fern fronds, and fresh or silk berries.

Mimic a blazing sunburst with this fall wreath. Fold out the husks on ears of Indian corn so they point straight out from the tops. Hot-glue the ears to a straw wreath, and "fluff" the husks to complete the look.

An old rake head becomes a clever door decoration when you add bittersweet, tips of juniper or any other fall foliage you may have in your yard. (Purchased bittersweet, leaves and flowers work great, too.) Tuck stems of vines, leaves or flowers into the hollow end of the rake head and secure with tightly wrapped jute.

Bittersweet vines and hydrangeas add pretty curves and colors to a grapevine wreath.

This playful wreath combines a little DIY with crafts store finds. First, wrap a 14-inch foam wreath form with black and white yarn. Then, embellish the center with crafts store Halloween decorations.

Embellish a square, store-bought magnolia wreath with color-coordinated real and faux materials, including twigs, seedpods and nuts.

A wheat wreath reflects your Midwest heritage. Insert dried sheaves into a foam wreath form, then dress up your wreath by slipping the stems of golden maple leaves into the spaces between wheat heads. Use leaves sparingly for the best effect.

Hydrangeas, bittersweet and rose hips enliven a grapevine wreath. Purchased bittersweet from a crafts store works well in a wreath like this and lasts longer than fresh vines.

Wood slices make a pretty, natural-looking and long-lasting wreath. Glue 20 wood slices to the front of a flat wooden wreath form, putting 10 on the first layer and 10 on the second, with the top layer arranged so the slices partially overlap the ones on the bottom. Glue burlap and wire-edged ribbon onto part of the wreath and cover with pinecones, artificial berries and greenery. Attach ribbon to hang.

What says "Halloween" more than candy corn? This wreath is made with painted foam cones. We used nine 2-7/8-inch x 5-7/8-inch Styrofoam cones, cut in half from top to bottom to make 18 halves. With craft paint, we first painted each cone white, then painted the bottom third yellow and the middle part orange. Make sure the cones dry inbetween each paint coat. Glue to a sturdy cardboard circle to form a wreath. (For a smoother finish, cover the front of each cone with lightweight spackling compound, let dry and sand before painting.)

Bundle wheat with sunflowers and a ribbon bow for a quick-and-easy fall door decoration.

A harvest of multi-colored ornamental corn highlights this simple wall hanging. Wrap thick strands of rust- and natural-colored raffia around the husks of 10 to 12 ears of corn, leaving approximately 1 foot of excess raffia at the end. Braid the ends together. Finish with a raffia bow and bittersweet branches.