Hi everyone! The holiday season is here! This is the time of year when I get super excited to get artsy, and decorate for the holidays. Decorating everything from the interior of our home,and carrying that to the outdoors means a little bit of work the weekend after Thanksgiving, but it is so worth it. And it gives me the opportunity to work off some of the extra calories I consumed on Thanksgiving!
This year I wanted to create a pair of horse head wreaths that I could hang up outside. I decided to make my own after seeing how much these cost to buy on places like Etsy. They are really expensive, and I wasn’t to fond of how they looked. Most of the wreaths were adorned with gaudy elements that just aren’t my style. So I decided to make my own. That way I could make the wreath the way I wanted it to be.
I found lots of tutorials on the internet, but I wasn’t crazy with how they looked, so I decided to figure out how to do it on my own.
Supplies to Make a Horse Head Wreath
To make this wreath, you will need:
Heavy duty wire (or a coat hanger)
Thin wire that is easy to bend
Green garland
String
Ribbon
A large button
A large red bow
Fishing line
Wire cutters
Glue gun with glue sticks
Duct tape
Making the Frame
You don’t need a fancy frame to make this,with the wire you will be making your own frame. And then you add the garland,and finishing touches, and you will have a beautiful handcrafted horse head wreath!
This is not too hard to make,but it does take a little bit of time. The first wreath I made took me about an hour and a half to make,total time. And the second wreath took about an hour. So there is a little bit of a time investment, but it will be worth it in the end, I promise.
You will bend the wire in the shape of a horse head. I used two pieces of wire, this made it easier to form and shape the horse head. Then I secured the wire with strips of duct tape.
What’s Inside the Frame
Once you have the outer wire frame completed, you will need to add an inner layer so you will have something to tie the garland too.
I used string that I had lying around.
And then I just started tying string to the wire frame. This took the longest to do, but the more string you have in the interior, the more places you will have to tie the garland too, so don’t skimp on this step!
Attaching the Garland
Once the string is secured to the frame, now it is time to add the garland. I found the garland at Walmart, and then I found extra at the dollar store. I was able to get 15 feet of green garland for $1.00! That was a great deal!
First I attached the garland to the outer frame of the wreath. This will give you the outline of your horse head. I attached it to the outer frame with fishing line. You can use wire, but the fishing line is invisible, and gives a really nice finished appearance.
I cut strips of garland, and matched them up in the wreath. I attached each piece to either end of the frame work, and then started tying the garland to the inner skeleton of string. I also tied the garland to other pieces of garland. This way all of the garland will stay together, and look fuller.
If there were bare spaces, I added another piece of garland.This part is time consuming too,but the more secure your garland strips are, the more sturdy your wreath will be.
Adding The Decorative Elements
This part is fun, because this is when the wreath is just about done! Now take some ribbon and add a halter for your horse. Attach the ribbon to the back of the halter with your glue gun. I added a few drops of glue on the front side too, to make the halter secure, and able to withstand being outside.
Once the ribbon is attached, add a large button to the cheek piece, where it meets up with the nose band.
If you want you can add an eye, but I liked mine without, so I kept it simple, and did not add an eye.
Then you add the big red bow to the lower part of the horses neck. It gives the wreath a festive appearance, and just makes it look complete.
Adding A Hanger
The final step is to add a hanger to the back of the wreath. I did this with a piece of wire. This is where I attached the wreath to my fence posts.
All that is left to do now is hang up your wreath, and enjoy the holiday season! Now I can share my love of the holidays, as well as my love for horses!
If you want to see this done as a video, I made one! It is on my YouTube channel, The Budget Equestrian.
I hope you have a very happy holiday season with your family, and your horses!
