The invisible trick for hanging a wreath on a wooden door

A wreath on the front door has always been my favourite part of Christmas; however, working out how to hang one up is one of my least favourite parts. This year, after trying two different ‘no nails’ hacks, I found myself resorting to the ‘invisible’ nail method I’ve used for years.

I tried to avoid using a nail and work out how to hang a wreath on my front door without using one this year. However, a stick-on command hook wasn’t strong enough to hold up my luxurious (a.k.a heavy) Bloom & Wild wreath and fell off the door in under 24 hours. I also tried out an over-the-door wreath hook; however, I couldn’t get the sizing right for it to sit over my front door.

In the end, I resorted to the humble nail and some clear thread.

Now, the reason I’ve dubbed it an ‘invisible’ hack is that I didn’t just bash the nail into the front door for all to see; instead, I hammered the nail into the top of the door in the middle. The trick lies in hammering it until it sits almost flush with the door, but there is still enough of a lip to loop thread or ribbon around. When not in use, the nail is invisible, waiting hidden to be used again next year.

I then took this ‘invisibility’ a step further by skipping the ribbon and hanging the wreath using clear nylon thread from Amazon (£8). The effect is a wreath floating perfectly on the front door, the thread almost invisible unless you look closely.

The nail trick is one my family used for years in our old house, which had a wooden front door. Every year, I’d run my hand over the top of the door, looking for the nail to loop the wreath ribbon over. However, the clear thread upgrade is a trick I stumbled upon last year when I tried clear beading elastic to hang dried orange slices on my Christmas tree.

I was so impressed with the result, I stocked up on more clear thread for hanging window decorations. Then, when my command hook failed, I thought, Why not see if it would work just as well with a wreath?

I did have to double up the thread a couple of times to take the weight of my wreath, but it has done the trick and looks great. You can also try using a fish line, which is a little cheaper at £4 on Amazon.

Does this hack work on other types of doors?

I must stress that the nail part of this hack is only suitable for wooden doors. However, if you have something on the inside of the door you can hook things onto, you can still use the clear thread hanging part of the hack and run it up and over the door to the other side.

If you have a composite door or glass door, you might have better luck with a command hook than I did. My mum uses a white command hook from Amazon to hang up her wreath on a composite door every year. The colour blends into the door, and once the wreath is on, you’d never know it was there. But I’ll caveat that she opts for a much lighter faux wreath.

If you are still looking for an alternative to nails, here are a couple of the solutions I have researched with great reviews, but have yet to try myself.