Estate Sale Purchase To New DIY Grapevine Wreath Makeover

“Sweetie, are you sure you can do something with that wreath?”

That was the question the sweet little lady working the estate sale asked me not once but twice about the scraggly, misshapen DIY grapevine wreath in my hand. 

I had to admit it wasn’t the prettiest DIY wreath the homeowner had on display in her basement craft room closet. But I wasn’t looking for the prettiest wreath.  

I was looking for the one with the good bones that could be made into something better. So I selected the one that no one else wanted to buy but me. 

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THIS POST IS PART OF THE ‘DO IT OVER’ DESIGNERS LINK PARTY.  A GROUP OF DESIGNERS WHO TAKE SOMETHING OLD AND/OR UNUSED AND ‘DO IT OVER’ INTO SOMETHING NEW. THESE ITEMS CAN BE FOUND IN CLOSETS, BARNS, GARAGES, YARD SALES, THRIFT STORES, YOU NAME IT!

I had a change of plans for my project this month.

This is NOT the project I had planned to share on this month’s ‘Do It Over’ challenge. That project may or may not still be in pieces waiting to be painted. You will find out about it next time.

For weeks, I have been working hard to clear off the surfaces in my house covered with unfinished craft and home projects. It was in one of those piles that I realized I still had a makeover project in the works that I could share for the challenge anyway. I hope you like it.

The DIY Grapevine Wreath No One Wanted To Buy But Me

It was tucked behind another, more decorated wreath hung high on the wall of the storage closet connected to her craft room in the basement.  These closet walls were overflowing with very dated Christmas wreaths and an abundance of old wreath forms, decorated for each changing season, to adorn her front door. 

Behind the dust-covered floral stems and bows of those wreaths, I spied the outline of a grapevine wreath base decorated with only a simple garland strand of yellow forsythia flowers. No bow or other decorations.  Just that simple, falling apart strand of early Spring flowers. 

What others saw as a sad little wreath that predictably dropped more flowers on the floor as I continued walking around the home, I saw the exciting potential to take a long time discarded grapevine wreath base and give it a stunning makeover for very little money.

Where to start on the makeover of my new old wreath form?

By the time I started to work on the makeover of my sad little wreath, I had already gathered a nice pile of flowers and stems that had fallen off the forsythia vine. But I really like forsythia flowers, both in nature and as faux stems, so I decided to keep it as a base to start the makeover.

In my craft stash, I had some faux boxwood garland that I had previously used on another DIY wreath. (A DIY stick wreath that didn’t hold up very well in storage, and I had to take it apart – mostly to save the boxwood garland, of course).

Small clippings from the boxwood garland were perfect for covering the exposed grapevine base in the gaps around the forsythia vine, adding lush green foliage to the wreath.

Thankfully, my favorite Spring tulip stems were restocked.

The next accents I added to this wreath were an unexpected find at Michaels. Unexpected because a few days earlier, they were no longer available in the store. But fortunately for me that day, Michaels had restocked their small seasonal tulip stems for $1.99 each, which are usually sold out by early February. Among the available colors were solid white stems and a beautiful combination of different shades of yellow. Exactly what I needed to blend with the forsythia vine.

I have purchased these beautiful small tulip stems for years to make several different Spring wreaths. The different color variations are so much fun for creating a different look each year, especially for grapevine wreath designs. Like this pink one, this orange one, and the collection of all different colored tulip wreaths.

One thing I really like about working with a grapevine wreath base is that you don’t always have to use hot glue to add floral stems to the form. If you leave the stems long enough on the cut flowers, the tangled wood of the grapevine form easily holds them in place. This is very good if you plan to reclaim the stems for a future project. Which I probably will do.

A few tucks of yellow and white tulips among the green foliage and forsythia, and this wreath looks totally different than how it started out.

The wreath still needed those unexpected accent pieces

If you read my post about my design process for rooms and wreaths, then you know that I always like to add a focal point to a wreath design or an unexpected accent. The focal point for this wreath was already established with the vibrant yellow color. So what could be the unexpected accents?

I had already found that in the kitchen at the same estate sale!

On my way to check out at the estate sale, I spied this dated, unopened box of Spring cookie cutters in different colors. The cost was minimal, so into my bag of goodies they went.

Wired to the grapevine form with thin floral wire, these colorful cookie cutters of a bunny, chick, flower, butterfly, and a carrot are now whimsical accents on this low-cost wreath makeover.

More often than not, I only give old and faded wreaths in a thrift store or estate sale a casual glance and then move on. Let’s be honest: most of them are very dated or ugly, which is why they ended up in a thrift store in the first place. Right!

Pin For Later

I am glad I gave this one a second glance, and even a third, when I decided to take a chance on it and brought it home with me. It is definitely a much prettier DIY homemade grapevine wreath than the one I started with. 

Please visit the other talented bloggers who are participating in the ‘Do It Over’ challenge this month, listed below.

Exquisitely Unremarkable

Little Vintage Cottage

Modern on Monticello

Pandora’s Box

Purple Hues & Me

Unique Creations by Anita

Sum of Their Stories

Vintage Style Gal

The Apple Street Cottage

Birdz of a Feather

Hugs,

Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.