Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Wreaths

I took on a little DIY project this summer that I wanted to share.  I love fun, crafty projects but I don't always have the time with little fingers always curiously looking at what I'm doing.  So, this one was a no brainer.  I just gave her some string and she was all set.  I am still working on a couple more but here is what I've made so far and  a little step by step in case you want to give it a go.

First, I picked out a wreath, Styrofoam worked best for me but someone else mentioned that they liked straw.  If you do the straw, I would recommend keeping the plastic paper on it to keep the surface smooth.  I started by tying a piece of yarn around the Styrofoam and then I just wrapped and wrapped.  I went pretty slow at first to keep the yarn straight.  I also kept the inside circle scrunched the whole time because it can get a little thick towards the end if you don't watch it.

Also, a little note here.  If you are doing small chunks of colors similar to the Mizzou wreaths below, I would leave a little yarn hanging from the knot and use it to secure a knot to when you are ready to switch colors. I laid it flat under the yarn I wrapped so it wouldn't be seen. That makes it a little easier to tie it off at the end.  If you decide to use one color, I let it hang until I was done and then tied it off where I started.

There isn't much more to it than that.  Just tie and wrap, switch colors if you want.  Then decorate!

To make the felt flowers, I used a piece of felt and cut it in a spiral.  Obviously the bigger the circle the bigger the flower.  The wavy lines give the flower a little flourish.  I left a big chunk in the middle of the circle that will be the base of the flower.  So start at the beginning of the circle and start rolling the material up.



Then I glued the base of the felt to the underside of the flower.  And that's it.  Here's the finished product.

Finally, I glued the flower to the felt and pinned it down through the Styrofoam. 

Here's how it turned out.  I love them and I can't wait to get them all done!!

1 comment:

MBeall said...

I LOVE THESE!!!! HOW FUN!!!