Cheerful Easy Wreath for all Seasons
 |
| Finished wreath |
Supplies:
·
Wire coat hanger or wreath form (free or $3.50
on sale)
·
1 Plastic table cloth from party section for
base color ($1)
·
18 1” by 7” strips of accent color of similar
weight plastic from old table cloth, project buddy, or plastic grocery bags
(free)
·
1 design focal image piece(embellishment)—glitter
butterfly Christmas ornament used in sample, look at the dollar store or party
store or floral/wood craft/kids department of craft stores ($1.00 or less)
·
Curling ribbon in 3 coordinating colors (on hand
or $.25-$1.00)
·
Tools: pliers, long blade scissors, florist
wire, ribbon shredder tool (optional) (on hand or borrowed)
Typical cost to assemble: $3.00--$4.00
Assembly:
1.
Bend wire hanger into a round shape. It’s fine
for it not to be perfectly round, mine looked more octagonal. The color will
correct any bends that are crooked
2.
Bend top of hanger (the part that typically hangs on the clothes rod) to make a place to suspend
your wreath on a door or wall.
3.
Cut your base table cloth into strips that are
about 1” by 7”
a. Perfection
is not the goal, they can be as lopsided, crooked, etc.—it won’t show
b. Tip:
Cutting the table cloth from the folded position is a great way to do this
quickly.
c. Don’t
tax your cutting hand by doing them all at once, do a few and start tying and
then cut some more
4.
Tie the base
a. Start
at the wire loop of the wreath on the left or right side
b. Tie
2-3 strips of plastic material onto the hanger
c. Pull
tight and fluff them a bit
d. Continue
to tie until you run out of strips
e. After
you have tied about 1/8 portion of the wreath, push the knots very close
together
f.
You may add your accent color strips at this
point or wait until the end, adding them now is easier to manipulate, but don’t
do it if you’re really picky about placement.
g. Continue
to cut and tie strips. Push them together tightly as you go around
h. This
phase becomes a rote process, so now is a good time to chat with your buddy,
watch a movie, listen to an audio book, explore your imagination…
5.
Once you have filled up the base with fluffy
knots, add the accent color strips at about 1/8 segments around the wreath if
you didn’t do it as you went along.
a. Tie
additional base color strips onto the wreath hanging wire to cover up the
twisted base.
6.
Depending upon your taste you can just tie or
hang your embellishment on the wreath and call it a finished project. If the wreath is only going to be viewed from
further away this is a great idea—you could even skip the embellishment part.
If for example, you are hanging them high up in a room or on the outside of
windows—stopping is recommended
7.
If the wreath will be on a front door or other
eye height position then continue to embellish it by wiring your focal image
onto the wreath (sample places it just below the half-way point of the left
side).
8.
Cut and curl 16” – 25” pieces of package ribbon
and tie them on the wreath near your contrasting color ties. Use a ribbon
splitter to make some of the curled ribbons different widths.
9.
Tie uncurled loops of the ribbon together to
make a bow about 8” in width. Wire or tie this bow to the top of the wreath.
Tips:
Ø
For a fuller wreath purchase a wire wreath from
craft or floral stores and use the same techniques
Ø
The plastic makes this wreath ideal for outdoor
use, but you can use torn strips of fabric, cloth ribbon, or crepe paper to
design indoor wreaths with same instructions. The look will be totally
different.
Ø
Add glitter with spray glue or other methods to
glam this up.
Ø
Add silk flowers where you have tied the
contrasting plastic color. If you use those plastic flowers available at thrift
or dollar stores you will get a kitschy vintage look.
Ø
Use a rainbow of colors for a birthday
event—project is so quick and easy you could even take it to work for an office
or cubicle decoration on birthdays.
Ø
Printed plastic table cloths are a fun
variation—smaller prints work best.
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