How To: Gothic Wreath DIY for Halloween
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Making a wreath for Halloween is so fun, because you can make it look as scary, creepy, cute, or disheveled as you want! It’s Halloween- anything goes! As evidenced by this DIY gothic wreath I made this month.
I love the haphazard look to this wreath, because it just screams creepy (but not too creepy!) Halloween. I feel like it has a gothic, old time manor, on a full moon Halloween night kind of feel.
This DIY gothic wreath only took about 1 or so hour to make…maybe a little bit more but that’s because I superglued my fingers together by accident. Then I panicked and my husband had to come help de-glue my fingers! Oops
But aside from that…the wreath was fairly simple to do, the hardest part maybe being gluing the feathers on. Just because it was a little finicky.
This DIY doesn’t require too many items, and being quick to make, it’s a great last minute Halloween decoration! To see how to make it, read on below.
How to Make a DIY Gothic Wreath for Halloween
Okay, first, here are the materials you need for this gothic wreath:
- A twiggy, asymmetrical, or creepy looking wreath form. I found this one at a local Hobby lobby, but check any of your local craft stores or online for one that strikes your fancy. This one is plastic, because I wanted it to last a long time. And I like how it has branches reaching out, so the bats that we put on look like they are flying away!
- As creepy berries as you can find at your craft store! I like these orange ones that kind of look like weird eyes.
- Some plastic bats…I used these ones.
- Large black feathers…I used 2 feathers that are about 14 inches. Again, I found these at a local Hobby Lobby, but search around for some you like! I like how these are kind of drapey. You can also use multiple feathers to create the look, or even a cut up feather boa, if you can’t find large feathers.
- Small black feather picks. I used 5 of these.
- A glue gun.
- Superglue (use one that will stand up to the elements if you are hanging this outdoors).
- Wire snips.
The steps for making this gothic wreath DIY:
Step 1: Cut the berries from the branch, and trim the feather stems using the wire snips.
Like so:
This will allow you to stick them into the wreath where you want them.
Step 2: Plan the wreath out.
Take your wreath, place it on a flat surface (the floor for me!), and just place your berries, feathers, and bats approximately where you want them.
It might look a little funny, but this will give you a good idea of where you want things to go!
Step 3: Start gluing on the feathers.
Start with the 2 large feather accents first. Poke the stem end of one feather into your wreath and starting on that side, use the glue gun to place a small glue strip part way down the wreath, and stick the feather to it. Following the shape of the wreath form, continue to glue down the rest of the feather with the glue gun. Be careful- glue is hot!
Cover up the bottom stem of the large feathers by gluing one of the smaller feather picks into the wreath form on top of it. Strategically glue in the remaining small feather picks where there might need to be extra feather coverage.
If you can still see the feather pick stems or if you have any visible glue from the glue gun, you can use a bat to cover those spots. BUT, make sure to use the super glue for the bats…the glue gun is too hot, and it will warp the bat and probably burn your fingers too. Just trust me on that one!
Dab a bit of super glue on the back of a bat, and glue it where you need to cover any glue or stem spots.
Step 4: Add in the berries.
Take your berry stems and start gluing those in where you want them using the glue gun. Try to tuck the stem ends into or under the wreath form or feathers, so you can’t see them. Then add a dab or two of the glue gun to secure them.
I wanted my berries to look a little wild, so I added a couple stems on each side in random places. If you have stems showing, no worries- you can hide them with bats in the next step!
Step 5: Add in the bats!
Somehow I failed to take a picture of the bat process…probably because this is the step where I superglued my fingers together and panicked!
But here is a picture from the final product hanging that gives you a good idea of the bat placement. Also, you may want to stand your wreath up against a wall to do this step, so you can see how the branches will fall once it’s hanging.
Using the superglue NOT the glue gun (too hot!), start gluing the bats onto the branches of the wreath that stick out. I added bats only to one side of my wreath, because I like the haphazard feel.
Add the larger bats to the bottom branches closest to the wreath form, and then randomly alternate the other sizes here and there on the branches until you are happy with how it looks. Each superglue is different, but for mine, I placed a small dab of glue on the back of a bat, and carefully pressed it to the wreath branch until it stuck there.
Step 6: Time to hang your wreath!
Once you are happy with how it looks, and everything is stuck on there and glue is dried…it’s time to hang your wreath and enjoy!
Look at that! Such a cool Halloween wreath you now have!
Hope you enjoyed this gothic wreath DIY and are inspired to make your own.
Do you like to make wreaths for the holidays and seasons? Let me know in the comments!
xoxo
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Such a lovely wreath design! This looks like a lot of fun to make 🙂 x
Thank you! It was definitely fun to make, aside from the gluing of my fingers together haha!
This wreath is so beautiful. The feathers are a great addition and the berries add a touch of color, perfect for fall! I would definitely love to make my own. Thanks for sharing this creative DIY!
Thank you! I love the feathers too!