An advent wreath or Adventskranz is traditionally a wreath with fir sprigs or other evergreen branches and four candles that either sits horizontally on a table or hangs from the ceiling.
A hanging advent wreath you will see more likely in a church. Most people won’t hang their wreath because you have real candles on it and therefore balance is crucial and not always guaranteed.
Each candle stands for one of the four Sundays before Christmas. Today I’m going to tell you how I made a German advent wreath here in America.
If you want to know more about the origin and history of the advent wreath and its older alternative, the Paradeisl and Klausenbaum, click here. You can also sign up to be notified via email when I publish a new post. Or follow me on facebook, instagram, and pinterest.
Materials for the Advent Wreath
There are many different ways to make an advent wreath, and some versions are not even a wreath. The important thing is that your advent display has four candles that you can light on Advent Sundays. If you are looking for inspiration, check out my pinterest board.
This is what I used:
- straw wreath (I bought mine at Joann Fabrics)
- pine branches from my yard (if you don’t have that available to you, you can buy artificial pine or fir, or buy a pre-made wreath)
- wire cutter
- florist wire to fasten the pine branches to the wreath
- wire to fasten the candles to the wreath
- Large Frosted gray blue pine spray with sparkle from my friend Alana at greenerymarket
- four silver candles
How to make the Advent Wreath
I decided to make my advent wreath in silvery gray because I like the cooler look of silver. I added some red at the end for a splash of color. The sparkle of the gray blue spray gives the wreath a more wintery feel.
Since I hadn’t bound a wreath in some time I watched some youtube videos to refresh my memory and also to make sure I had all the materials I needed. The video is in German but I’m sure you can follow along.
Overall, it is not very hard to make a wreath, however make sure you have some room to do it and some time. If you picked some pokey evergreen branches like I did, you might want to wear gloves.
Adding Green to your Wreath
First, you need to cut your branches to smaller, maybe 3″ long twigs. You make a little bouquet out of three or four twigs and attach them to the straw wreath by winding the florist wire around it. You will have to do that again right next to your first twig bouquet to cover the side of the wreath. Do that again until your wreath is a full green pine wreath.
Attaching the Candles
I put my candles on before I did any decorating. That way I won’t have any problems to put them on the wreath where I want them. To securely attach the candles to the wreath I used three pieces of stiff wire.
In Germany, you can buy special candle holders for advent wreaths but if you are in the US buying them from Germany can get expensive. I personally didn’t plan far enough ahead to have advent candle holders shipped to me.
If you want to get some though, and it’s probably a good idea if you are planning on using them every year, you can do so on amazon.de and etsy. Search for “Adventskerzenhalter” and “advent candle holder”. There are also some products on amazon.com that you might want to check out. I have a couple of suggestions listed below.
I used the method suggested in the video and cut my strong wire into smaller pieces, heated them over a candle, and inserted three of the wire sticks into the bottom of each candle. I then placed them and pressed them into the wreath making sure they were secure.
Decorative Elements
Once I placed the candles, I went on to decorate the wreath. This is where you can really make the wreath yours. You can use all kinds of materials, from pine cones to small ornaments, figurines, bows, you name it.
Since I had chosen silver candles I wanted something that would complement that color. I asked my friend Alana from Greenery Market to help me out. She has great taste and has been making wreaths and other decors for some time. She and her partner Bill had recently expanded their business into selling florals and greenery and I knew she would have the right thing for my wreath.
And I was right. Alana hooked me up with some blue gray spray with sparkles which gave my wreath a frosty appearance. I took the spray and cut into smaller pieces so I could easily attach it to the parts between the candles. The spray is elastic enough to bend into the shape you want yet sturdy enough to stay in place.
To add a splash of color I added a red berry strand that looks natural and makes the wreath a bit more interesting.
Here is my finished wreath.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Real Fir Sprigs
As you can tell I used real pine. It’s really nice because it’s real and it smells like Christmas.
However, if you have had a real Christmas tree you know that with the wonderful smell come the needles. And my wreath in particular has lost a bunch of needles already.
To keep the wreath from drying out you don’t want to put too close to your radiator or furnace. You might even put it outside at night or spray it with water every once in a while.
The advantage of using an artificial wreath is that you don’t have to make a new one every year. Though if you like crafting or want to try new kinds of advent wreaths than you might not see this as an advantage.
But you can still be very creative if you are working with a pre-made wreath. For one, you can use a wreath like that as a traditional advent wreath or as a hanging wreath for your door.
Secondly, you can change the color and placements of your candles. You can choose new decorations every year without having to start from scratch.
But whatever you choose, the spirit of advent, the time to reflect is what is important and not how pretty or trendy your wreath is.
Follow Alana from Greenery Market
If you are a crafter and in the market for florals, greenery, bows, and other decorations, check her website, etsy store, facebook, etc. I added a couple of her products so you can see for yourself.
Advent Wreath Products and Supplies
The links below are affiliate links which means that I earn a small commission if you buy anything through the link, at no extra cost to you.
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