How to Make the Most Awesome LEGO Wreath

I am wide awake while everyone around me is happily snoring. My mind is racing a million miles an hour. I have a love/ hate relationship with my brain when this happens. There is an idea brewing in my head and it just won’t stop nagging me. I MUST CREATE! I MUST CRAFT! I reach for the notebook I keep by my bed.

Hopefully, this chicken-scratch will be legible tomorrow morning, or rather, in a few hours when another day is upon us. I don’t want to forget this idea and all the inspiration that keeps popping into my mind, but I desperately need sleep.

(This post was originally published in June 2016. It was republished in May 2020 for updated content and accuracy.)

The sudden creative urge to combine my two obsessions: LEGO and DIY door wreaths was on my mind for a long while, until I realized that I HAD to act on it.

I am not sure what my attraction is to door wreaths, but as you can see here: a spider Halloween wreath, a Halloween bat wreath and an Easter bunny wreath… I love them! And LEGO – well… look no further than HERE… which should prove my love for LEGO.

I have never done a custom LEGO build larger than the business card holder, so planning this project was daunting to me. The most important lesson I learned was to JUST START IT… and learn along the way.

Everything You Need To Make a LEGO Flag Wreath:

Wood monogram wreath
Acrylic craft paint (This craft paint is so versatile.)
Hot glue gun (This is the exact one I use, and I love it!)
LEGO… and lots of it

Where to Find LEGO Bricks:

Getting the right LEGO pieces for this custom build took a bit of research. I spent time checking out eBay, Bricklink, Amazon, and of course the LEGO website.

I could have bought the individual bricks on eBay or Bricklink, but they would have come from different sellers which wouldn’t make it time- or cost-effective. I chose the “easy” way out and bought everything directly from LEGO’s Pick A Brick.

LEGO Bricks Used for This Build:

I ordered the following bricks and almost used them all. I had a few leftover, but depending on your wreath design, this will give you a good idea of what is required.

White 1×1 brick: 10
Red 1×1 brick: 10
Blue 1×1 brick: 5
White 1×2 brick: 20
Red 1×2 brick: 20
Blue 1×2 brick: 30
White 2×2 brick: 20
Red 2×2 brick: 20
Blue 2×2 brick: 25
White 2×4 brick: 15
Red 2×4 brick: 15
Blue 2×4 brick: 40
White 2×4 plate: 20
White 2×2 plate: 25
White 1×2 plate: 20
White 4×4 plate: 30
White 4×6 plate: 20
White round studs: 20

LEGO Flag Wreath DIY Instructions:

Paint the wood base of the wreath! I painted the wood monogram white because I was using white baseplates, so I wanted everything to blend as much as possible.
Draw your idea! I traced the wood monogram on a big piece of paper and then drew my design idea on the paper. This gave me a guide throughout the build to determine where the different colors should go. This step was also a huge help in figuring out how many bricks I needed.
Gather your bricks! As I mentioned, I ordered directly from LEGO’s Pick A Brick section, but I also went through our bins of LEGO to get as many bricks as possible. I kept them sorted by color in cups throughout the building process.
Place your paper sketch on a big cutting board under the wooden wreath! This will allow you to put your build away in a safe place when you aren’t working on it.
Start! Seriously – just sit down and start the build… stop waiting for a day where you will have several hours to build, chances are that won’t happen. Sneak in a few minutes here and there.
Place the base plates around the wreath, without any glue or tape! Just casually cover the wreath with the pieces of baseplates. Use the larger pieces as much as possible and fill in with the smaller ones wherever you have bare spots.
(Things are about to get real!) Place bricks onto of the baseplates using the colors indicated on your sketch! Try to connect as many of the baseplates by strategically overlapping the bricks. Use the larger bricks first and fill in blank spots with the small bricks.
Grab your hot glue gun! This is the moment you have been waiting for. Start gluing the pieces onto the wood monogram wreath. I started at the top in the middle and worked my way down one side and then down the other side, keeping the sides fairly even throughout the build.
1. Squirt the hot glue in a zig-zag pattern across the bottom of the baseplates and press it firmly onto the wood monogram. Remember that hot glue is rather permanent and not very forgiving – so be confident in your placement. Work slowly and steadily.
2. I found it best to do all the gluing in one sitting and working on the wreath standing up, so I had a good “bird’s eye view” of the project.
3. Starting and stopping worked well during the building process, but once I had to glue, it was important to stay focused and get it done.
Place temporary bricks on top of the wreath throughout the gluing process to make sure that the bricks are connected closely enough to connect properly.
Allow the wreath to dry completely!
View the wreath from several angles and fill in any blanks with spare bricks – even if you glue them directly onto the wreath without baseplate pieces underneath.
Tie a ribbon around the top of the wreath, hang it on an over the door hook – and VOILA… sit back and breathe a sigh of relief.