Our Hopeful Home: Rustic DIY Antler Pine Cone Wreath

December 14, 2015

A staple of Christmas decorating, the pine cone, can be used in so many ways around the holidays. Today I'm sharing my rustic DIY antler pine cone wreath.

DIY pine cone antler wreath with red berry pic decorations

I bought two rustic pine cone wreaths on clearance at Restoration Hardware in Kansas City a number of years ago. We haven't lived in Kansas for 12 years so I know they're at least that old. I remember that their original price was something ungodly, and the sale price was ridiculously low. Hence the purchase. They were quite large, heavy and chock-full of pine cones.

While I haven't used them every year, they have cropped up from time to time at Christmas. Usually I just place a red plaid bow on them, stick in a few berry picks and call it a day.

But this year I wanted to go beyond that. I've been greatly inspired by the many deer antler wreaths I've seen out there in blogland, as well as in my favorite catalogs. I was particularly inspired by Ballard Designs. I've included screenshots of their online catalog so I could show you what I mean.

fireplace mantel at Christmas with word JOY on the wall

They sell these antler wreaths individually for $59 (12") or $89 (18"). As you can see in the pictures, they recommend topping a regular evergreen wreath with one of their antler wreaths. I kind of like how that looks, but my pocketbook doesn't. So I got crafty.

Wal-Mart Holiday Time deer antler Christmas ornaments

Last year I stumbled across these antler ornaments at Wal-Mart. I picked up two of them and was quite happy with my purchase. (Each ornament is actually two individual antlers attached together.) But after I got home I was kicking myself for not buying more. Fast forward to this tear. Lo and behold, Wal-Mart had the antler ornaments again! So of course I stocked up.

deer antler Christmas ornaments in front of pine cone wreath

When I purchased the antlers this time I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them.

All I did was place the antlers on the wreath where I wanted them, and then I used very thin picture hanging wire to attach them.

This shows the placement of the antlers before attaching them. I purposefully did not hot glue them. Knowing my proclivity for changing taste in decor, I'm sure by next year I'll be ready for a change. The good news is that I can still use them as ornaments! I can see them placed on a tree with a rustic/woodland theme, or maybe even painted white.

Here is one of them to the left of the fireplace.

I do think the wreaths fit in nicely with my simple, rustic mantel. This year it's all about simplicity. I used my estate sale vintage minnow buckets to hold burlap-wrapped mini-Christmas trees with lights, and then I just added some pine cone candlesticks and a reindeer silhouette plate. I put mini battery-operated fairy lights in the "trees" and LED candles in the candlesticks. Together they create a lovely ambiance at night.