Let's Hang Those Wreaths 3 Ways

Today we started to hang the wreaths. The weather was far more agreeable than yesterday's bone chilling low 30's and actually both my phone and car said it was 51 degrees today. Due to absolutely no sun whatsoever it felt cooler than that.  Here in the north we have 3 or 4 months of grey weather no matter whether it is bitterly cold or mild like today.

The huge wreath is heavy and we both guesstimated between 25-35 pounds so the suction cup on the glass option is out.  So off to the hardware store to see what kind of screw in hooks were an option to chose from but they also had to not stick out like a sore thumb when not in use.  I will paint it white when the weather warms up in the spring.

A cup hook wouldn't work because the threaded part is not long enough to support the weight of the large wreath.  So I found these that actually have a max weight limit (40 lbs) right on the package.  I think that once I paint it white it should blend in when not in use. I drilled a small pilot hole so that it was easier to screw it into the trim.  Since I did not need the hook to stick out more than an inch, I screwed the hook in farther than just the threaded part.

I could have just rested the metal wreath frame onto the hook but that would have put the wreath in the wrong place so I needed to make a wire loop to attach to the wreath frame.  I cut a piece of the green floral wire to a length of 24 inches and folded it in half.  I then twisted that wired and when the 12 inches was fully twisted I folded it in half and twisted again.  This left me with a rather thick piece of wire that measures 6 inches long.

These photos are of the smaller wreaths wire loops where I just folded and twisted once NOT twice

Now look at your wreath and determine where the top will be located.  Every wreath has a less than perfect spot that you will want to disquise with a bow or some other embellishment.  I determined where the top of the wreath would be located and threaded my 6 inch twisted wire through the frame. Slip one end of the wire through the loop on the other end of the wire and twist the wire around each piece until you have a continuous circle of wire.  This gives you a very sturdy wire that can support the weight of the big wreath.

The medium size wreaths are hung using the large suctions cups and are hung on the glass.  I purchased these suction cups after Christmas one year and paid 75 cents a piece.  I think I bought 10 of them because after several winters they tend to get hard.  I like these because the hook part folds over and takes up less space in my wreath supply storage container.  I also like the little tab for removal.  It's best if you apply the suction cup to clean glass and with these suction cups, no water, spit, or glass cleaner is needed to adher it to the glass.

Oh man, the manicure is looking bad.  No need to redo until I am done with the wreaths.

I used a third method of hanging to hang the small wreath on the front door.  After all the paint stripping, sanding, and painting that took two years to complete, there was absolutely no way that I wanted to put a nail or hook into the front of the door.  So I opted for hanging the small wreath by a ribbon (actually two ribbons) and used 4 flat thumb tacks to secure the ribbon to the top of the door. Our door is over 2 inches thick so using one of those metal over the door hangers is not an option for the front door.

I will wait to to trim any wild or long evergreen pieces until after I attach my bows and do dads which I will do tomorrow.  And I still need to make one more medium size wreath.  My cuttings are running low but I think I am going to have just enough.

Tomorrow.....bow making and attaching, adding do dads, and why I chose the colors and do dads that I used for the wreaths.  Plus a cost break down.