Holiday wreath!

There is nothing for getting into the holiday spirit like a little Christmas-y DIY project. I was on the lookout for something fun, since I had just painted our door. I went to craft stores and hardware stores and other stores looking for a wreath. Those things are expensive! I was not about to shell out $60. So I opted to make one.

If you were to buy all these supplies, they would be around $20. But, with the ever present coupon and some sales, I scored all this for around $10. I got an 18in wreath form, brown yarn, red polka dot ribbon, three 81/2 x 11 sheets of white felt and one of green.

I trimmed down the form till it was the softer shape I wanted. I cut the pieces off with a knife, then pushed the foam down. I wanted rounded edges for the front of the wreath, not squared. But, I did want the back to stay squared so it would lay flat.

I put a drop of glue on and started winding. (If you choose to do this project, I suggest balling your yarn first. Its not easy putting the whole thing through each time.)

The whole process took me several hours, but I was very particular about how it sat. I jsut watched tv while I did it over a few nights.

Then I worked on the flowers. I wanted white ones, so I could use them year round on the blue door if I wanted to. I cut 1 - 1 1/2 in strips out of one of the white sheets. Then I cut into squares. Rounding the edges off two corners gives you a good shape for the petals. I sewed together the two square ends on a round piece of the felt. I just used two stitches in each piece. Went all the way around the circle.

Then I sewed on the second layer. :-) I made all of the flowers in about an hour or so. I only did two rows of petals, then I put fun vintage buttons in the middle.

I cut out random leaf shapes and sewed two on each flower.

Arranging the wreath can be fun. I pinned each flower on (under the big buttons) so that I could take them off and use different flowers if I wanted to use the base year round. I did the same with the ribbons, which are rather random, but I wanted to add the holiday color.