How to Hang Wreaths on Chairs

One of the sweetest holiday decorations is hanging pretty Christmas wreaths on the backs of chairs. With this quick step-by-step guide for how to hang wreaths on chairs, your home will look extra festive and inviting this holiday season.

Dining chairs as well as bar/counter stool chairs can be decorated with wreaths, whether you’re hosting a holiday party or candlelit dinner for two.

Follow along to learn how to hang a wreath on a chair so you’re ready when the season rolls around.

It could be the repetition, or the cute mini wreaths in all their fluffy green glory, but I absolutely love Christmas wreaths hanging on the backs of chairs at the holidays. 

To me, more is more when it comes to how much (and how many) ribbon to use. Long, draping ribbon of different colors and textures all working in harmony is the best way to decorate these little green gems.

This year, I went for a calming pastel color palette—my favorite to date! Check out Dreamy Pastel Christmas Decorating Ideas to get inspiration for your own home.

Ways to Hang Wreaths on Chairs

Everyone has a different way to hang holiday wreaths on chairs, so there really is no right or wrong way.

The real consideration is what material the chair is made of. You don’t want to ruin your lovely chairs just to hang a holiday wreath. Be mindful and practical when it comes to decorating.

Keep in mind, dining chairs as well as bar/counter stool chairs can be decorated with mini wreaths.

No matter what method you choose to hang the wreaths, you can go all out with embellishments, or maintain a simple aesthetic of just a mini wreath and a little ribbon.

Here are a few different ways to hang wreaths on the back of chairs:

• Ribbon - Arguably the easiest and least damaging to furniture is to simply use ribbon. Especially if you have a partially open back chair, you can tie the ribbon around the wreath and then around the chair and that’s it. 
• T-pins - If you don’t have an open back chair, you can still use ribbon and secure the ribbon to the chair with a t-pin or other similar fastener. Again, depending on the material of your chairs, this may or may not be an option for you.

• Command hooks - 3M’s famous clear command hooks work well if you have the right material on your chairs. Even though the package usually says “damage free,” read the label and any instructions in case they don’t work well for the specific material that your chairs are comprised of. Always, always do a patch test in an inconspicuous area before committing.
• Rope - Similar to ribbon, I have also seen pretty rope used to hang wreaths on chairs at the holidays. Natural materials, such as jute, sisal or cotton, look great with many different design styles, from modern organic to cozy country.
  
  This cream or natural braided rope would be pretty on its own as well as mixed with other decorations of ornaments and ribbons.

I am sure there are other creative ways to hang the wreaths. From what I gather, those mentioned above are some of the most popular, easy methods.

Supplies

Unlike some time-consuming DIY projects—with multiple days involved—in this case, only a few supplies are required to make your dream a reality.

You probably already have some of the supplies needed to hang wreaths on the back of chairs, depending on what hanging hardware and/or fastener you plan to use. (See previous section on ways to hang wreaths.) In fact, you may already have some ribbon that you don’t even need to make a trip to the store.

Here is what you’ll need:

Mini or Small Wreaths

Mini cedar wreaths are my favorite! Our wreaths are 4” or 6”. You can usually find them online from small retailers, at craft stores as well as on Amazon.

While I love cedar wreaths, you can use whatever style you prefer, including

• lamb’s ear
• boxwood
• honey locust and rosemary
• magnolia leaves
• eucalyptus
• olive leaf

Go with whatever style you love.

I bought our mini cedar wreaths, garlands and mini cedar tree in July or August at Hobby Lobby during a 50% off sale. (Hobby Lobby begins stocking holiday decor in-store starting as early as July.)

If you are familiar with the retailer, they run 50% off sales every week, rotating through departments. You can wait for a sale, but don’t wait too long. Once they start stocking the Christmas decorations, they go fast.

Hanging Hardware

I went over hanging hardware and fasteners in the previous section, but, in general, ribbon, t-pins, command hooks, and crafting rope are common hardware used to hang wreaths on the backs of chairs.

Be sure to consider what material your particular chairs are made out of before attaching any hardware or fasteners to ensure you don’t damage them.

Scissors

A nice pair of sharp scissors may be needed to cut ribbon or rope. Utility scissors are fine, but I have gorgeous stainless steel blush scissors that are just as sharp as they are beautiful. You could also use these pretty black scissors, gold dressmaker shears or Russell+Hazel’s beautiful golden acrylic scissors.

Tape Measure (optional)

Use a tape measure if you are using ribbon to hang the wreaths by in order to measure the length of ribbon for each wreath.

Fabric tape measures are much easier to maneuver when working with ribbon. Sure, any fabric tape measure will work, but, here on Mornington Lane, I’m extra. I try to buy pretty everyday items, like this neutral colored leather tape measure.

Embellishments

From bells, ornaments and ribbons to stems and florals, lights, diy yarn garland and more, embellishments make your chair wreaths festive! For our wreaths, I used two different styles of ribbon, plus little white bells. Let your creative side shine!

Step-by-Step: How to Hang Wreaths on Back of Chairs

Once you have all the supplies, it’s time to get started.

Note: I used a combination of t-pins and ribbon to hang our wreaths, which means this guide may differ slightly from yours. Hopefully, you’ll get it and this will give you some ideas about how to decorate your own wreaths.

Step 1: Choose Ornaments and Embellishments

Before you decide what hardware you will use to hang the wreaths, choose what, if any, ornaments and embellishments you will decorate the wreaths with. This is an important first step, because it impacts the weight of the wreath which impacts the strength of the hardware needed to hang them.

Since I went with gorgeous pastel Christmas decorations this year, I kept ours pretty minimal, layering two different types of ribbon: a soft white frayed edge 1 ½ inch wide cotton ribbon with a ⅜ inch wide blush pink satin ribbon.

I just love how the mix of different ribbon textures, widths and sheens against the taupe linen chairs looks elegant but not stuffy.

Step 2: Decide on Hardware to Hang the Wreaths

Now that you have a good idea of what you will use to decorate the wreaths with, you can decide on the hardware to hang them by. That’s it for this step, just a decision. For ours, I used a combination of ribbon and t-pins. 

Step 3: Measure, Cut and Tie Ribbons(s) on Wreaths

Since I used ribbons to decorate the wreaths, I wanted a dramatically long, draping effect. So I cut long lengths of both styles of ribbon.

To layer the ribbons, I first tied the white ribbon on the wreath, then tied the pink ribbon over the top and then made a bow. You will most likely have to tidy up the ribbons at different points to get them to lay properly, but it doesn’t take long.

Step 4: Add Ornaments and Embellishments

If you plan to add any ornaments or other decorative embellishments, this is the time to do so.

• Stick picks and stems in the wreath
• Hang tiny bells from the middle
• Attach small ornaments with ribbon or floral wire

Later on, I added little white bells to the middle of our wreaths, though I didn’t take any photos for some reason.

Step 5: Hang Wreaths on Chairs

To hang the wreaths on our counter stool chairs, I cut a small strip of satin ribbon, criss-crossed the ends, folded them down like little bunny ears, and fastened them to the chair with a t-pin through the top. That’s it!

As mentioned earlier, an alternative way to hang the wreath is to attach the wreath to ribbon and wrap it horizontally around the chair. 

Or, vertically use ribbon to attach the wreath to the chair and tuck it into the cushion on the front side—the side you sit on—of the chair. Of course, this only works if you don’t have an open back and you do have a cushion on your chairs.

Next year, I am almost certain I will not use the t-pins in the way that I did this year. It’s not that they caused any damage to the chairs; I just felt it didn’t look as nice as it could have if I had used ribbon around the chair, as I’ve seen others do. I may use the t-pins to hold it at the sides or something but probably not the top unless it’s hidden.

How do you hang holiday wreaths on chairs in your home? Comment to tell us all about it!