Stinky Wreath

Ok, blog world. I am coming to you with a very urgent dilemma.

I'm sure many of you have or have had something like this in your home:

A nice, innocent faux berry wreath. We have had two in the past five years. The first was a lovely blend of reds, oranges, and yellows that I purchased with a wedding gift card at Pier 1 in our first year of marriage (when I hung it on the screened-in porch in this house we discovered that Weber liked to eat the berries when waiting to be let inside, so the poor thing had to go. The wreath, that is...not the dog). The second is a lovely brown combination from Garden Ridge that currently hangs in front of a mirror on our mantle. I love it.

But they have both had this problem, you see.

After awhile, they start to stink!

And it has been the SAME SMELL from both wreaths. I can't quite pinpoint it, but it is not a nice smell. It is quite a gross smell, really, and in our tiny living room it can be quite noticeable when you walk in from being out of the house all day.

We have several theories. One is that heat somehow activates some chemical used on the berries that has a foul odor. Our first berry wreath stunk when it hung on our front door in Texas, but then I also had it hung over the kitchen sink for a time and could still smell it there on occasion (which would make you think that temperature didn't have anything to do with it). Jonathan is convinced that our current wreath started to stink soon after we lit our first fire in the fireplace. I think it might have started before that, but I can't be sure.

Regardless of the cause, I would argue that the average faux berry wreath should not stink under any circumstances! I definitely can't tolerate the smell, but I love this wreath so much (and don't want to buy a new one) that I am hoping to find a solution.

So, bloggers...tell me this: have any of you had a stinky wreath like these? Any idea what might cause the decorative stench? Any solutions? (I have already Febreezed it to no avail. Other thoughts include "sealing" it with hairspray, searching the florist section of Hobby Lobby to see if there is some sort of spray preservative or sealant that could help, or dousing it in some home fragrance oil as a cover-up.)

I am desperate for a home decor intervention. Help!!!