Holiday Yarn Wreath

Like I said in my previous post, there are so many different ways to make a Christmas wreath.
Because I was SO worried about whether my friend would like the wreath I sent to her, I decided to make her an 'indoor' wreath - maybe I thought of it as a consolation prize or a gift with purchase.  I'm not sure but I just knew that I wanted to make this yarn wreath and send it to her.

My inspiration was this yarn wreath - it was labeled a 'different' kind of wreath.  I was so attracted to it, I just knew I had to make it.

A different kind of Christmas Wreath

Here were the easy parts of assembling the supplies for this wreath:

• white, green (dark and light), red felt? - check
• yarn that looks like twine? - check
• green and white yarn for accent? - check
• hot glue gun and fabric glue? - check

So what was left, you ask?  The wreath form, of course.  And if you go into Michael's or Jo-Ann's (the two closest craft stores to me), you will see that the only 'fat' wreath form are the straw ones.  I could have sworn I've seen fat Styrofoam wreath forms but sadly, it must have been my imagination because there were none to be found. I even asked my sister to run to Hobby Lobby to see if they had it - negative.  So she said the thing that I was hoping to avoid...maybe we just have to use the straw ones and keep the plastic wrap over it. 
And that is exactly what we did.  We each took a straw wreath, didn't mess with the plastic cover, and just started wrapping our yarn over it.  This was INFINITELY harder and more time consuming than wrapping a Styrofoam wreath because every wrapped piece of yarn had to be exactly in place - not like your Styrofoam ones where you can wrap, wrap, wrap a few times and then slide them neatly in place. I think I developed arthritis while wrapping my wreath. And it took more than a couple of hours to complete.
BUT once we had our wreaths wrapped, we went to work on the felt flowers.  I had NEVER EVER made felt flowers and for some reason, the thought of doing it was so daunting to me. Thankfully, my sister has made felt flowers before and with her help and this tutorial (Rosette Tutorial), I got the hang of it. 
We made three different size florets/rosettes.  To expedite the whole process, I would double up on the felt and cut out two circles at a time...that's where it all starts - circle shapes.  I would say ours ranged in size from 4-inch diameters to 8-inch diameters.  Once all your different colored and sized flowers are done and glued, I would place them out nicely on the wreath and then hot glue them onto the wreath to make it permanent.

This was my final product:

I added little floral rhinestones to the center of the flowers....I cut them down to be able to fit into the center of each floret.  And if necessary, I would glue them in.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out.  I've already started a similar one, using a Styrofoam wreath, and will use felt poinsettias instead (BHG poinsettias).

Happy Crafting!

A Simple, Rustic Christmas Wreath

I was recently so humbled by my friend who asked if I would make a Christmas wreath for her and her family.  They had just moved into a new apartment in Brooklyn earlier this year, and knowing that I LOVE to craft, she asked if I wouldn't mind making her one.
I was so excited at the possibilities - do you know how many ways there are to make a Christmas wreath?!  But the one that I had my mind and heart set on had to involve BURLAP!

I had been wanting to work with burlap for awhile.  I also didn't want to make a straight all-burlap wreath because they're in Brooklyn, not Birmingham.
After discussing tastes and preferences with my friend, I had an idea for my inspiration:

 

 What she surely did not want was a burlap-dominated wreath.  So I reversed the idea by taking a traditional plain, green wreath and making the burlap the accent portion of it.

The only time I stumbled was figuring out what kind of bow to make and the placement of it.  Also - whether or not my final product needed some editing...and by editing, I meant MORE STUFF.

The actual wreath itself only took me about an hour to assemble - the most time being the bow.  But after I was done with it, I wasn't QUITE done with it.  I had to hang it in my house and be able to look at it multiple times to decide whether or not I was truly happy with it.

Here is my final product:

 

It turns out, I loved it.  I loved it for it's simplicity and I loved it for it's rustic charm.
Like I said, I took a plain, green wreath (from Michael's), some burlap ribbon (from Jo-Ann's) and use the dividers on the back of the wreath to weave the burlap in and out.  Then I was able to twist some of the evergreen stems over the burlap to make it look like there were breaks in the burlap.
Next, I bought stems of berries (they were 'fake iced') and separated  different stems from its bunch and tied each one to the base wire of the wreath until it was evenly distributed all around.
FINALLY, it was time for the ribbon.
I recall having a ribbon wizard - I think I even know where it is in storage, in my basement...but I needed the ribbon for this wreath to be FAT and SPECIAL.  I just folded the burlap ribbon (same one that is weaved through the wreath) back and forth and make sure there were no tails - so the end was tucked UNDER (not over) the top layer.  Then I cinched the middle with floral wire. Then I took a thinner, red burlap ribbon (from Jo-Ann's) and tied it to the middle and cut 'V' ends at the tails.  The red ribbon is wired so the tails are 'poseable.'  It took me awhile to get this fat, special bow right but in the end, I loved it so much - I lovingly deemed it the 'Nelly Oleson bow.'

The more I looked at it, the more I loved it.  I thought about putting bells in (but that wouldn't be good as it made it's way through the US Postal Service).  I thought about putting rhinestones in it to sparkle - but didn't want it to be tacky.  Ultimately, I left it as is. 

My friend offered to pay for my parts and labor but I couldn't charge her for this - especially since I didn't know if she would like it or not. I did, however, include a wreath hanger exactly like the one in my picture because I thought it just went so well together.

Here's to hoping she likes the wreath I made for her and it spreads a little holiday cheer!