I had grand plans for this year's gingerbread house party.  Alas, I ran out of time to do most of the things I wanted for the party, but we still all had a marvelous time, and that's what matters most!  Pretty much the only things I managed to make for the party, besides the gingerbread houses, were the miniature wreaths out of real evergreens for the drink labels.

They're fast and easy to make (I only had time for fast and easy!) but add a really elegant touch to the decor.

Materials Needed for Miniature Wreaths

• evergreen branches
• grapevine wire
• floral wire
• miniature pine cones (optional)
• printable Victorian banner (optional)

Start by heading outside and trimming some greenery off of local bushes.  Or your live Christmas tree.  Really, whatever is green and within reach of your scissors.

Cut a piece of grapevine wire (it's in the floral section of most craft stores).  Form it into a rough circle.

Use the floral wire to attach small segments of the greenery to the grapevine wire wreath form.  Overlap the greens as you go along, to create a nice layered, textured look.

Once the greenery has been wired in place, the wreath looks pretty good, but there are a few bits of wire still showing.  Not to worry--the judicious application of miniature pine cones (or berries, or whatever) cover such small blemishes.

So does the application of a printable Victorian style banner.  I looked for a dingbats font with printable banners like this--I know I've seen them before!--but couldn't find anything I liked.  So, as I so often do, I made my own.  And I'm sharing them with you!

Download the free printable Victorian banner labels here.

Ah, see?  That's so much better!

I liked them so much adorning the beverages at our annual gingerbread house decorating party, that I decided to use them as gift tags, too.

I love them!  They smell wonderful, too.  But I don't want every present to have a wreath.  That would look too repetitive, and take too much time to make.  Just a few accent presents got the wreaths.  

The rest got a super fast and easy treatment--a simple knot of lace with a sprig of greenery tied in.

And the label for those simple presents?  Sharpie on the back!  The present looks elegant from the front, but it's all business on the back.  Couldn't be easier.  And I don't particularly care that I get teased by my brothers and sisters-in-law (whom I adore) for not using gift tags.  I like my method.

Don't they look great together?  I'm going to go get some crisp white giftwrap and red satin ribbon for some of the presents.  (No, I'm nowhere close to being done wrapping--hence the super fast and easy variation on the theme!)