Do you love the look of a Hampton or Newport style rope wreath but don’t like the high price for it? Learn how to make your own wreath for a fraction of the cost of ones online!

I was browsing Instagram recently and fell in love with these rope wreaths that another blogger had on her front door. After doing a little looking into them however, I did not like the price tag. Especially considering that I would need two of these wreaths for my front doors! So I decided to try to make a DIY rope wreath (or a couple to be precise) myself. 🙂

I could not find any other tutorials for these kind of rope wreaths, so I knew I had to figure it out as I went along. That is always a little challenging, because you are essentially guessing at how to do everything and the amount of supplies you will need. Luckily for you all, with a little trial and error, I got it figured out!

This DIY rope wreath ended up only costing about $30-35 per wreath. Compare that to the $100-125 price tag on the ones for sale online, I think it is definitely worth it to make one!

Supplies to make a rope wreath

• Pool noodle and 14-16″ metal ring (or you can just try a 16-18″ foam wreath form)
• 40 ft. 3/4″ Manilla rope
• 50 ft. roll of 3/8″ sisal rope
• Gorilla glue
• Gorilla Hot Glue Sticks
• Hot Glue Gun
• E6000 Craft glue
• Clear packing tape
• Sharp Knife or Hand Pruner
• Acrylic Paint and foam brush (optional)

How to make a wreath form

I have to give a disclaimer here as to the supply list. I started off using a pool noodle for my wreath form for this project since I could not find a big enough wreath form at my local stores and to try to keep costs down. As you will see later, that did not work well because with the weight of the rope, the pool noodle was not sturdy enough to hold it’s circle shape. Remember, figuring this out as I went along. 😉

Mr. Wonderful says he told me ahead of time it would not work but I don’t remember that. Hmmm… So after brainstorming some different ideas, I went back and strengthened it later with a metal ring. I linked out to a 16″ foam wreath form in the supply list, but since I did not use it, I can’t vouch for it’s effectiveness. It would certainly be easier to use if you wanted to try it though.

I used some pool noodles that we already had around, so they were very pliable and formed them into a circle. I used original gorilla glue on the junction and clear tape to hold the pool noodle in place while the glue dried. So the pool noodle would not break apart later, I ended up leaving the tape on just for extra security.

As you can see the pool noodles I used were red and blue. I have learned from previous projects, like this book page rose pumpkin, to paint things white that you don’t want showing through, so I used some acrylic paint and painted the pool noodles. In the end, I don’t think you would be able to see the pool noodle but I didn’t want to chance it.

Get lots of rope!

Just from looking at the pictures of the wreath online, I knew that I was going to need lots of rope! And we were not talking about small rope either. After looking at some rope and comparing the sizes, I determined that it was probably 3/4″ rope for the bigger size and 3/8″ for the smaller diameter rope. I have bought a bigger diameter rope before and know they can get a little expensive.

Again in the sense of trying to keep costs down on my DIY rope wreath, I looked all over for the least expensive option I could find. That ended up being at Lowe’s where they cut the rope by the foot for you. The 3/4″ rope was .42 cents per foot. Score! 🙂 I linked out to some 3/4″ rope in the supply list just in case you don’t have a Lowe’s near you. Each wreath ended up using just shy of 40 feet of 3/4″ rope. The 3/8″ rope came prepackaged in a 50 ft. roll so that worked.

How to cut rope

If you need to cut your rope, an easy tip is to wrap some packing tape around the rope and cut it with a hand saw or a really hot sharp knife. For the smaller 3/8″ rope, I used a hand pruner. When I was making the wreaths, I left the tape on the ends so they would not unravel.

Make a spacer for your wreath

I cut a small piece of the 3/8″ rope to use as a spacer when wrapping the wreath with the big rope.

How to make a DIY rope wreath

Don’t want to read all the instructions? Here is a video showing you how make the DIY rope wreath. If you can’t see the video, turn off your ad blocker. If you want more detailed instructions, continue reading.

Get your supplies ready. I used both e6000 craft glue and some really strong hot glue on my wreaths as they were going to be hanging on my front doors in the heat of a Florida summer. If you are using your wreath in a cooler climate or indoors, you can probably just use regular hot glue. I wanted to make sure my hot glue did not melt in the heat and leave a puddle of rope at the door. LOL

Prepare your 3/4″ rope by wrapping it into a coil. This is a lot of rope to manage while you are wrapping your wreath so keeping it in a coil makes it easier to work with. Start your wreath by wrapping a few wraps around the wreath form.

Glue down the end first, and hold it for about 45 seconds. Then start gluing the rest of the rope as you wrap it. As you wrap the rope, leave the rope edges touching on the inside center of the wreath, but leave spaces between the rope on the outside of the wreath. Use your spacer to make sure you leave the right amount of space in between the rope on the outside. 

Lift your coil of rope over the wreath form and under as you go along. I usually tried to give myself two wraps to work with each time.

When you get to the end, cut your rope and glue down the end on the backside of the wreath.

Strengthen your wreath form

If you are using a pool noodle and want a circle wreath, you will need to strengthen the wreath form. However if you are wanting an oval shaped or egg shaped wreath, this would work perfectly! Hey, this could be a great Easter wreath! I may make a Pinterest pin for that! Ha! #lookingonthebrightside This is what the wreath looked like before strengthening it with a metal ring. We tried holding up the bottom with a command hook but that just resulted in a weird shaped oval.

Realistically, you could add the metal ring before you wrap the big rope and then you would not see it at all, but I was not about to unwrap the whole wreath! So this is the point where I would have added the metal ring had I done it correctly in the first place. Make sure your metal ring will fit on the backside, I used a 14 inch ring but could have used a 16 inch one as well. Just a note, you will not see this step in the video if you watch it as I came back later to add the ring. 😉

Glue down the end of the 3/8″ rope and start wrapping it around the big rope.

Make sure you wrap this rope tightly. Wedge it into the spaces that you left when wrapping the bigger rope. You want there to be a marked difference showing the different sizes of the rope on the outside. That is what makes this wreath look so cool in my opinion.

Keep wrapping until you get to the end. There is no need to glue this smaller rope down the whole way. It will hold itself into the spaces you left by tightly wrapping it.

When you finish wrapping the smaller rope, cut the end and secure it with glue.

Add some pretty ribbon and hang

I found some black and white striped ribbon at Hobby Lobby that was similar to the inspiration wreaths. One roll was enough for both wreaths.

I first tied a bow around the wreath then added a strip of ribbon to hide the wreath hanger. To attach this strip of ribbon, I used a piece of wire and inserted it behind my bow on the back side.

Place the strip of ribbon directly parallel to the bow ribbon and twist the wire.

Then when you hang the wreaths on wreath hangers on the door, just run the strip of ribbon up over the door hanger and back underneath it to hold it in place. 

I love how these wreaths turned out! Add some starfish or shells and they would be great for a nautical theme. But at the same time are neutral enough to use them anytime! All you have to do is change out the ribbon and ‘Voila!’, you have a fall wreath, or a Christmas wreath.

I love seeing ideas for projects and figuring out how to make them myself. What about you? Is this a DIY project you would tackle? By the way, if any of you are wondering, they are holding up very well in the heat! 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend!