Rethink Tradition with These 5 Beautiful Christmas Wreath Alternatives That Will Elevate Your Entryway

Choosing an alternative to a classic Christmas wreath is an elegant way to add impact to your home’s festive décor. Rather than showcasing the usual ring of holly, ivy and spruce on your front door why not opt for a different shape, choice of foliage or selection of unexpected accents and materials.

From a gracefully draped swag, tied bunch of foliage to meticulously woven hearts and stars, the options are endless, and create a brilliant opportunity to experiment with new and unusual natural materials.

As a great believer of having fun with plants and festive décor, I couldn’t resist sharing a few of my favorite discoveries including the latest Christmas door décor ideas and more outdoor Christmas decoration ideas.

5 creative alternatives to a classic festive wreath

Opting for an alternative to a traditional Christmas wreath is a fun and effective way to revitalize your home's festive look.

By making your own door decoration, not only can you tweak the style and colors to suit your home, and your personality, but it's often easier than you may think.

Holly and feather starburst

Give your home's exterior plenty of feelgood festive drama this winter with a stunning feather and foliage combination. Although the base for this design is a traditional wire ring clad in moss and secured with florist wire, the striking outline is a dramatic starburst.

Thanks to the mix of peacock and brown-striped tail feathers placed amongst glossy holly leaves and berries, the surface is fascinating mix of soft and harsh textures, shapes and natural colours. Snipped sprigs of spruce help mesh the look together along with white spotted quail feathers for a sparkly highlight.

Find a selection of natural feathers for crafts at Walmart and be sure to invest in some utility scissors at Amazon to cut holly stems to length.

Bay leaf garland

Celebrate the beauty of bay leaves with a simple, but undeniably stylish, garland. Made solely of bay leaves, they are threaded in small bunches on to short lengths of florist wire – try 22 gauge green floral wire available at Amazon – and then twisted on to a wire ring base. Walmart sell a wide range of shapes and sizes, which you can find here.

Thanks to the foliage's naturally glossy surface and matt russet underside, the result is delightfully ruffled and perfectly finished off with an offset, ornate hot pink bow.

Densely packed together, the ring base and open center are hardly visible, creating the look of a circular mass rather than a classic wreath. You can find beautiful luxury ribbon velvet fuchsia ribbon at Walmart.

Spruce, pine and conifer branch bouquet

I don't think you can beat this spray of winter branches for simple, festive elegance and it's pretty easy to make too. No floristry skills needed. A beautiful and more natural-looking alternative to a traditional wreath, it shows off the contrasting types of foliage, colors and textures.

Gather long lengths of different evergreens, including conifer, pine, holly and fir – ideally with cones and berries still attached – then with cut ends together, layer them up starting with the longest branches first before progressing to the shorter, slimmer cuttings on top.

If you fancy adding a touch of fragrance, top off your arrangement with one of the best types of scented foliage for Christmas decorations. A bundle of rosemary stems, not only lends an icy touch with its silvery leaves, but it will also release its warm spicy scent whenever you brush past.

A pair of sharp, sturdy secateurs are essential for this front door display. I particularly rate these Fiskars Bypass pruners Amazon. Finish off with a silky ochre ribbon, such as this satin ribbon from Walmart.

Twig and cone star

How about this star shaped hanging for a striking alternative to a holiday wreath. Delightfully pared back and fun to make, it is a stylish, contemporary front door decoration, perfect for a warm festive welcome.

Made from a selection of smooth, twigless branches, start with the longest five lengths and arrange them in a star form.

A small handsaw such as this Felco 602 folding pruning saw from Amazon is the easiest way to cut these branches to size. Secure them in place with a hot glue gun kit, such as this one from Walmart and leave to dry.

Gradually thread in shorter branches to fill in the star, gluing them in place and leaving to dry before adding the next. Whitewash your star using watered down white latex paint, before finishing off with pine cones and sections of spruce.

Need to hang your arrangement easily, try these clear wreath hanger hooks from Amazon.

Try a festive swag of spruce and pine

Ditch the wreath and opt for a graceful foliage swag instead. Paired with a cluster of antique-look decorative bells, it's an elegant arrangement that has timeless appeal.

Most impactful if you stick to two different types of foliage, for a subtle variation in texture and tone, this arrangement can be a little fiddly to create but it is definitely satisfying, and the end result worthwhile.

Start with a 'U' shaped base; long lengths of natural raffia ribbon bound into a 2 inch 'rope' with natural twine is ideal. You can find raffia at Walmart. Snip off lengths of conifer, pine or fir and bind securely on to the raffia base at intervals, using hemp twine available from Walmart.

Start using longer sections of foliage at the ends of the 'U', working back in to the centre using increasingly shorter stems as you go. Once the base – and its sides are covered – wrap a chunky length of natural rope around the mid section, to hide the exposed cut ends.

Perfect for attaching a rear hanging loop and the decorative bells, it gives the finished swag a laidback yet festive flourish.

These decorative cow bells with a jute hanging rope from Amazon have a naturally aged look and complement the cool, icy tones.

Hopefully these alternatives to a traditional wreath have inspired you to rethink your festive decorations this year, and try something new.

For more inspiration take a look at these outdoor Christmas décor ideas and these tips to switch up your Christmas porch décor.