Behind the Scenes: What Actually Goes Into One of My Wreaths

The Creative Process · Designs of a Creative Soul

I mentioned in my comeback post that I finally got my studio reorganized, and a few of you may have wondered what that actually looks like - and what happens between an empty wreath base and the finished piece you see on someone's front door. So here's a peek behind the curtain.

It starts with a wild idea. Or no idea.

An early idea taking shape. At this point, I am still testing proportion, ribbon, and placement - nothing is sacred yet.

I'd like to tell you that before I touch a single ribbon, I have the palette mapped out and a clear plan in my head. I don't. Not even close.

A lot of the time, it starts with one piece of ribbon I love and I build outward from there. Other times it's a mood - jewel tones, candy-cane whimsy, black and gold, something a little strange - and I go hunting through my materials to see what wants to live together. Sometimes Pinterest gets involved. Sometimes I just start pulling things out until something clicks.

Then comes the layering

Layering in progress: ribbon, mesh, ornaments, florals, and focal elements all competing for their place in the composition.

This is the part that takes the longest, and it's honestly the hardest to explain because it isn't a neat step-by-step process. I build in layers: greenery and structure, then ribbon, focal elements, ornaments, florals, picks, and whatever else the piece seems to need.

But 'layering' makes it sound much more orderly than it is. I'm constantly stepping back, turning the piece, moving something two inches, taking something out, putting it back, and occasionally staring at it like it has personally offended me.

A wreath can look finished from one angle and completely wrong from another. So I walk away. I come back. I move the thing I swore I wasn't going to move. That's usually where the design starts becoming itself.

Every bow is hand-tied

A bow before it becomes part of anything else. This is where color, pattern, texture, and scale start having a conversation.

No pre-made bows here. Every loop, every streamer length, and every ribbon combination is done by hand. Even when I use the same ribbon twice, the bows never come out exactly the same - and I don't really want them to.

The bow isn't just something I attach at the end. It can set the scale, movement, and personality of the entire piece. Sometimes the bow behaves. Sometimes the bow and I enter negotiations.

And then comes the edit

This may be the part of the process that has changed the most for me. I used to think finishing meant adding the last thing. Now I know finishing is often editing.

Something can be beautiful and still be in the wrong place. A bow can be gorgeous and still be too big. A pick can be perfect and still need to come out. Sometimes the move that finishes a wreath is not adding another thing - it's changing one thing.

I don't really know a piece is done until I've looked at it from a distance, lived with it for a minute, and stopped mentally rearranging it.

NEARLY FINISHED

FINISHED

Same piece, different stage. The final version is not a dramatic reinvention; it is the result of editing the composition until the eye moves through it the way I want.

The Reverie Sanctum

The Reverie Sanctum in full working-studio mode: finished pieces overhead, ribbon below, canvases waiting, and several creative side quests within arm's reach.

Part of why I've been able to get back into a real rhythm is that my workspace finally works for me instead of against me. Ribbon has a home. My most-used tools are within reach. Finished pieces are visible instead of disappearing into storage, which means I'm constantly surrounded by reminders of what I've made and what I might try next.

Is it pristine? Absolutely not. This is a working studio. There will be ribbon out, half-finished ideas, bins I haven't put away, and at least one thing sitting somewhere it definitely does not belong. But the space supports the way I actually create, and that has made a real difference in how much I finish versus how much sits half-done.

What's next

I want to share more of this part of the work - not just the finished wreath on the door, but the decisions, wrong turns, tiny changes, and occasional creative detours that get it there.

So tell me what you're curious about: color choices, bow-making, material sourcing, how I know when something isn't working, or something else entirely. I'll dig into it in a future post.

With love,

Tiffany