I have no idea what it is about becoming a parent, but with it came a strong dose of Home Must Look Holiday Ready At All Times. Pre-kid, I had one of those mini fake trees I’d drag out from under my bed, hang on some mini hot pink ornaments and call it a holiday season. If I had extra ribbon left over from wrapping presents, I’d tie bows on curtains and doorknobs. Thanksgiving? Oh come on, people don’t actually decorate for Thanksgiving.

And then Bean was born and whoooooo. Last year, Dave had to carry a 12 ft tall Christmas tree 8 blocks, downhill. Baby girl needed a full size Christmas tree darnit. (And by “baby girl,” I mean Bean. Obviously. CHRISTMAS MEMORIES, PEOPLE.) Meanwhile, someone else was busy buying Crate and Barrel’s entire stock of tree ornaments because you really can’t pick between a raccoon in a tweed coat/ messenger bag and a fuzzy baby penguin.

And, obviously, we’d need a proper wreath to hang on the door. And maybe in our entryway. Mini ones over the windows too? Until I saw the price tag for a bare bones wreath was $25. In the US money.

So, if we’re keeping score, my thriftiness entirely ignores the itty bitty forest animal ornament kingdom but stops cold at a $25 wreath. I mean, that’s $10 less than an entire tree. I’m not being completely irrational.

I spotted these bushels of eucalyptus and rosemary greens at Whole Foods yesterday, tucked into the end of their flower display. And I could get 2 of them for $10. The cheap-o DIY alarm sounded, and so there I was carrying a bag bursting with greens down the street; Bean occasionally looking behind me with eyes wide with that, “oh…Mommy’s up to something!!!!..?” Because she knows. At 2, she already knows.

Thankfully, my vague memories of my own mom doing this exact same thing (minus the Whole Foods bit, obviously, because she’s legit (1970s Moms: the original craftsters)) paid off. Hello, pretty wreath!

Of course, it looks totally wild and untamed, and that’s exactly why I like it. The eucalyptus falling around it in cascades; the rosemary twigs spiking out every now and then. And because it’s not evergreen branches, it’ll work for both Thanksgiving and Christmas (I’ll just 86 the pumpkins and add pine cones or lanterns/candles/stockings.)

If you’ve never made a wreath before, here’s a rudimentary diagram of how it works:

Place two branches together, with one slightly ahead and tie together (appears as a black line in the diagram). Then, add a third, that’s slightly ahead, and tie together. Keep going until you get the size you’d like. Then, pull the last one around and tie it to the first branch.

Once you  have a skeletal wreath put together, keep adding more branches in the same way, overlapping and working in a circle, layering branches on top of what’s already there. Eventually, your twine will be tying 5 or 6 branches of greens together at once and the entire thing becomes a sturdy circle. Don’t worry if it looks haphazard aka rustic chic. That’s the point!

What are your holiday decoration weaknesses and cheap DIYs? The season has only begun…