DIY Classic Wheat Sheaf Decor for Fall

Quickly and easily make a wheat sheaf decor piece for your fall harvest table centerpiece with this simple step-by-step guide.

I’ve always loved the quintessentially autumnal look of a classic wheat sheaf decorating a home for the harvest season or Thanksgiving. Even if you don’t live in a rural farming community, there’s just something cozy and nostalgic about these classic fall decor pieces that people seem to gravitate towards. A few years ago, these wheat sheaves were quite popular and I might even say that they were trendy for a moment and I just had to learn how to make them. Of course, this timeless autumn decor staple is never really out of style, so I’ve been making them ever since. If you’d like to learn how to make them as well, I thought today might be the perfect chance for me to show you how it’s done.

Supplies Needed to Make a Wheat Bundle Decoration

Where I live, wheat is one of the main crops commonly grown in the fields around our house. Each summer, when the wheat is harvested, there’s usually a thin line of wheat left standing on the edge of the field where the big harvester can’t reach. It’s such a tiny, insignificant amount that, from a distance, it looks like just a stem or two, and farmers usually just plow them under before planting again. If you can get out there before they plow, though, and you start cutting those scraggly bits of wheat on the side of the field, you’ll find in a few minutes that you actually have enough for a generously-sized bundle.

You can also just order your wheat online, but walking out to the field and coming in with a little bundle you harvested by hand is so much more charming if you have it available. Plus, it keeps it from going to waste.

So here’s what you’ll need:

• A bundle of wheat approximately the size that you’d like to make your sheaf
• Garden pruners
• Twine
• Scissors
• A beautiful ribbon to tie on your finished wheat sheaf (optional)

More fall decorating ideas from our farmhouse: How to Dry Hydrangea Blooms Perfectly Every Time

How to Make a Wheat Sheaf

Depending on how many wheat stalks you’ll be using and how you plan to display your finished work of art, you can make your wheat sheaf extra large, or it can be delicate and dainty. The process will be the same no matter what size you choose to make your wheat sheaf.

These process photos are from when I was first learning to make wheat sheaves a few years ago, and honestly, I haven’t perfected or elaborated on the method at all since then. I still do it just the same, and I’m always happy with my homey, country-spun results.

Start out with a bunch of wheat. A really large handful of stems should be enough, so basically, whatever you can comfortably carry back from the field with you will work. Keep in mind that our field-gathered wheat (pictured) is probably a bit more rustic looking than store-bought, so take that into account when you’re planning how you want the final product to look.

Start gathering your wheat stalks in little bundles of about five and lining the tops all up straight next to each other, as pictured below.

Hold that little bundle in your hand and add another lined-up bundle just like it to the one in your hand, but do it on a bit of an angle. So have the original bundle sticking straight up in your hand and the new bundle kind of sticking off to one side towards your fingers at a 45 degree angle.

Don’t worry about it too much; just tilt the tops off to one side a bit. It will work out so easily once you start adding more. I promise.

Thanksgiving decor ideas featuring festive autumn foliage: Fall Porch Decor That You Can Grow or Gather

Continuing the Process

Now, grab the whole thing and turn it in your hand about a 1/4 turn and then add another small bundle of lined-up stalks, again on a bit of an angle. It helps if you have a little helper who can keep handing you tidy little bundles as you add them, like I did back in the day. 🙂

Here’s how it looks after you’ve turned your growing sheaf a few times and added a few more angled bundles.

See how they’re all just on sort of a slight angle? That’s what makes the final product have a nice, finished look.

Keep turning and adding bundles until you’ve used up all of your wheat. Then grab a bit of twine or string and tie it tightly right where you were holding it, wrapping the string around twice so it’s extra secure.

You’ll notice that the tops will be all neatly aligned and pretty, but the bottom will probably be pretty scraggly, a bit long, and kind of wild-looking.

Take your garden pruners and trim the bottom as straight as you can. You’ll want to create a flat surface so that it will stand up. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just straight-ish, but it’s very helpful if you sharpen your pruning shears first. Here’s how to do that quickly and easily if you’ve never tried it before: How to Sharpen Garden Pruners

You can adjust the overall look after trimming to make the completed decoration stand how you want it to, pulling stems up and down to make your finished wheat sheaf look its best.

Once you’ve managed to get it to stand up, you can congratulate yourself on having successfully created a wheat sheaf.

Decorate your home with the greenery of the season: How to Dry Corn Stalks From the Garden for Fall Decorations

Tidy it up and Display

Now just clean up some of the little pieces that are sticking out everywhere, add a pretty ribbon, and you’re all set for celebrating the harvest! Display your wheat on a tablescape alongside pumpkins, gourds, berry branches, and dried hydrangeas for a traditional harvest-themed look.

These should last really well year-to-year as long as you keep them stored somewhere that mice can’t find them. I usually just compost mine and make a new one the following year, but I think I’ll start saving them and building up a little collection so I can add them to different areas all around my home at this time of year.

Pictured above: Ruggable | Small Side Table | Doorknob | Baskets | Bookshelf Light Fixtures | Coffee Table | Moody Print | Satin Ribbon (Color is called “Dark Brown”)

I love the look of wheat displayed as a bouquet in a vase, but there’s something a little extra special about taking the time to make it into a traditional sheaf. It’s the perfect elegant addition to fall console tables, shelf displays, sideboards, or coffee tables.

Have you ever made your own wheat sheaf? Do you love them as much as I do?

More decorative project ideas: DIY Embroidery Hoop Halloween Wreath

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