Sometimes behind the scenes over here, DIY projects fail… miserably. This time instead of scraping everything all together, I was able to turn a DIY fail into another project and it turned out wonderfully. I guess I owe that failure a big “thank you” because if I wouldn’t have failed on that project, I would never have created this DIY pampas wreath (which I absolutely love).
It all started several months ago before the Christmas holiday season when I bought a bunch of dried pampas from Amazon. I was dead set on creating a Pampas grass mini Christmas tree, which I thought would fit in perfect with our Boho Christmas decor.
I went to the craft store and got a foam tree form and gave it a go. Along the way, I made a huge mess in my backyard as I cut down the pampas grass spray pieces (in the freezing cold).
After my fingertips nearly froze into icicles, I decided I hated it. Here’s what it looked like when I finally stopped.
I completely underestimated how big the pampas grass tree was going to be. At the base, it was way too wide to put on any empty surface in my house. So I pulled all of the pampas grass pieces out and decided I needed to start from square one again.
On my next trip to the store to get more holiday craft supplies, I was in the floral section and saw the grapevine wreaths. Right then and there, it dawned on me – I could make a DIY pampas grass wreath. I snagged up an 18-inch grapevine wreath and headed home to get to work.
This pampas wreath tutorial contains affiliate links, but nothing that I wouldn’t recommend wholeheartedly. Read my full disclosure here.
What types of pampas should you use in a wreath?
This really comes down to personal preference. You could buy all of the same style of pampas grasses in bulk for a consistent look, but I wanted mine to be a bit more eclectic and boho, so I mixed together several different styles and types of pampas grasses.
I started by going to one of my neighborhood shopping centers that have tons of pampas grass plants in their landscaping. Since it was late Fall and they were trimming it all down for the Winter, I just helped myself to some of those. The ones shown above on the table are what I clipped myself.
Next, I purchased this set from Amazon that had five different types of pampas grasses, including fluffy pampas, bunny tails, tall white pampas, reeds, and some purple ones. These were affordable, had great reviews, and had a good variety. These came about 17″ tall, but you can totally cut them down to the right size you need for the wreath.
After I got most of the wreath mostly assembled, I decided that I needed a couple more pieces of the fluffy stems to add to some of the empty spaces, so I also ordered this set.
How do you prepare pampas grass for a wreath?
For the pampas that you purchased online, it will probably look a little unappealing when you first unpack them. No worries though. All you need to do is fluff it up.
I simply followed the instructions that came with them. You just put them outside in the sun for a few hours and they will come back to life. Once fluffed, give it a quick spritz with hairspray to prevent shedding.
I’ve outlined the whole process below in this step-by-step tutorial (and video) so you can make your own pampas grass wreath!
Watch pampas grass wreath video tutorial
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Supplies for boho style pampas wreath:
- Grapevine wreath
- Mixed dried pampas grass – I used this entire set with five different types of pampas grasses + added some more of these stems for more fluffiness
- Lunaria stems (optional)
- Green dried grasses – I literally just got these from clipping plants outside
- Scissors
- Hot glue gun – I love this cordless one!
- Hot glue gun sticks
- Floral tape
Step 1. Make small bundles of pampas grass with floral tape
Rather than randomly sticking a bunch of individual pieces of pampas into the grapevine wreath, I first made little bundles of pampas grasses, mixing together different lengths, colors, and textures.
To make the bundles, it was pretty simple! Cut the stems of pampas grass to the appropriate lengths with scissors. Group together 3-5 different pieces of grass together with one hand and with the other hand grab your floral tape. Wrap the floral tape around the base of the bundle several times until it feels secure. I taped the bottom 2-3 inches on each bundle.
What is floral tape?
If you’ve never used floral tape before, let me enlighten you. It’s awesome stuff. Floral tape feels kind of like stretchy paper and it is not sticky, but it sticks to itself when it is stretched. So you don’t need to worry about it sticking to anything as you unwrap it from the roll, but as soon as you start looping it around floral stems, it sticks together to hold the pieces into place.
Usually, you’ll find floral tape for sale in the floral department of craft stores and you typically can find it in both green and brown colors. Since I was sticking the bundles into the brown grapevine wreath, I went with brown for this pampas grass wreath.
Step 2. Hot glue the bundles of pampas grass into the grapevine wreath
Next take your little bundles of happiness, I mean pampas grass, and start attaching them to the grapevine wreath with hot glue.
Just put a little dot or two of hot glue on the bottom part of the bundle (where the floral tape is) and stick it right into one of the open spots in between the vines on the wreath.
Press and hold for about 15-20 seconds to give the hot glue some time to grab onto the wreath before pulling away.
If you wanted to stop after just adding the pampas grass to one corner of the wreath, you totally could for a modern and asymmetrical look!
Angle the pampas grass all the same direction on the wreath for a nice and professional look. Longer stems can go on the outside edges of the wreath while the shorter ones look great on the inside edge.
Continue to add more and more pampas grass to the wreath working your way around, mixing colors and types of grass for a consistent variation throughout the wreath.
I also worked in a few of stems of these Lunaria stems (or money plant stems). Yes, I totally just learned that term because I didn’t know what to call these little guys, they kind of look like capiz shells to me. They added a fun and different look to the wreath, don’t you think?
Step 3. Display your wreath
It is pretty easy to pop your wreath up on a nail or hook on the wall. But you could also tie a little bit of twine to make a jute hanger if you wanted.
Where can you put a pampas grass wreath?
The wreath can be used just about anywhere – hanging up on the wall in your living room or dining room. I think it could be used all year round, but it would also make a perfect fall wreath if you like decorating for the seasons. it would also make the perfect gift for someone that loves home decor.
The one place I probably wouldn’t recommend putting the pampas wreath is your front door. I would be scared that the wind would be too rough on the fragile stems. Not to say it wouldn’t survive, but I’m not sure how well it would survive.
Here’s what it looks like from the side hanging the wall. You can see the edge of the grapevine wreath from the side, but that doesn’t bother me one bit.
There you go! Making a pampas wreath isn’t hard at all! Even if you have zero experience with florals or wreath making this one is pretty simple! Boho wreaths like this sell on Etsy for $75 – $150, but you can totally make this yourself for a fraction of the price.
Where would you put a pampas wreath in your house?
Let us know in the comments!
How To Make A Pampas Wreath
Do you love the look of pampas grass? Make your own boho style DIY pampas grass wreath with this easy step-by-step tutorial.
Materials
- Grapevine wreath
- Mixed dried pampas grass
- Stems for more fluffiness
- Lunaria stems (optional)
- Green dried grasses
- Hot glue gun sticks
- Floral tape
Tools
- Scissors
- Hot glue gun
Instructions
- Make small bundles of pampas grass with floral tape.
- Hot glue the bundles of pampas grass into the grapevine wreath.
- Continue to add more and more pampas grass to the wreath working your way around.
- Display your wreath
Notes
- If you’ve never used floral tape before, let me enlighten you. It’s awesome stuff. Floral tape feels kind of like stretchy paper and it is not sticky, but it sticks to itself when it is stretched.
- Even if you have zero experience with florals or wreath making, this one is pretty simple! Boho wreaths like this sell on Etsy for $75 – $150, but you can totally make this yourself for a fraction of the price.
