Trade In Your Basic Wreaths — Here's A Sweeter Way To Decorate Your Front Door

Your front door is a great place to take a little decorating risk, because the curb appeal payoff can be bigger than you expect. Seasonal wreaths are predictable, and if your front door has lovely glass panels or interesting woodwork, hanging a giant circular shape can ruin the effect. Trading in your basic wreaths for a quirky linear decoration can make your home feel less cookie-cutter. Apeer Doors recently shared a sweet DIY that makes it easy to style your front door. The project involves using a few wooden log slices wrapped together with jute twine before being decorated with faux sunflowers and ribbon.

This idea maintains all of the natural charm, texture, and warmth people love about front door wreaths. However, elongating the shape is a bit more architectural and emphasizes the height of the entryway. The overall length is customizable, allowing you to draw the eye up and down toward other front porch decor like an amazing light fixture or welcoming doormat. This quirky door decoration creates an organic feeling that's similar to grapevine or other natural wreath materials. But the flattened shape means birds won't be able to use it as a place to sneakily build their nests.

The only tool you'll need to grab for this DIY is a glue gun. As far as supplies, you'll need several of the discs, like William Craft Stores' Unfinished Natural Wood Slices. You'll also need a roll of jute twine, which you can purchase online or at your local craft store. To connect them, lay your wooden slices out in the length you'd like. Cut a length of jute twine a few times longer than your row, and fold it in half. Apply hot glue around the edge of the slices, and wrap the jute around them to attach them to each other.

This technique can be used to combine as many craft log slices as you prefer. If you're concerned about the jute covering up too much of the unfinished bark edges, you could hot glue it to the back of each log instead. Just keep the twine doubled to provide enough support. Then, glue each of the strings an inch or two from the center of each slice to help the discs stay balanced and flat against the door.

There are several different ways to customize your new front door decoration. Apeer Doors opted to hot-glue cheerful faux sunflowers in between each log slice. This approach maintains the traditional floral look of a basic wreath. This could also be reinterpreted for various seasons with things like faux tulips in spring or pinecones and holiday picks for a winter front door decoration. 

For another unique take, you can also ditch the traditional wreath look altogether. Instead of adding faux floral elements, consider using appliqués to add letters or numbers to the center of each log. These could spell out 'Welcome', your last name, or your address. You could also paint or stain the log slices to create an ombre or rainbow effect, match your shutters, or greet guests with a little metallic sparkle. If you're feeling especially crafty, wood burning is another option. Because wood is porous, apply a coat of primer before starting on your designs and seal them with varnish when you're done.

The final step is tying the leftover twine into a loop for hanging. If you have a steel door, consider using a nail-free method like the highly-rated FYY Magnetic Wreath Hanger from Amazon. Heavy-duty Command Strips are a good alternative if your door is made from fiberglass or wood. Either way, threading a large festive ribbon through the jute loop is a final flourish that can easily disguise your preferred hanging method or hardware.