Spring Wreath, Inspired by Pinterest

"For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God." Hebrews 6:7, NASB

Today is a beautiful Sunday!  I have spring fever, for sure.  The temp is in the 60s, and I have some windows open for the first time in 2013.  I'm listening to a new CD by one of my favorite musicians, and felt like being a little crafty.  I saw a pin on Pinterest a while ago and have wanted to make it for spring decorating, and today seemed like the perfect lazy Sunday to do so.  It's really easy to do, and you can even make it while you are watching your favorite program on TV.  You can also customize it to fit the season, if you use a little imagination.  Let's get started!

Supplies

• One 12" green foam wreath form
• One skein of Yarn Bee brand haute fur, cypress color, 76 yards (I found it at Hobby Lobby)
• One roll of 1 1/2" wide by 9' wired satin ribbon, your choice (you could go a little wider, too)
• One yard of 7/8" daisy ribbon trim (I couldn't find rolls of it, but I found it for sale by the yard at JoAnn crafts)
• One package of 1 1/2" long pearlized pins, your choice of color heads
• Fray check (not pictured)

Step One: Wrapping the yarn
Start wrapping the yard around the form by holding a short length of the yarn with your thumb, while bringing the yarn over the piece you are holding with your thumb.  Wrapping the yarn over the piece you hold with your thumb will hold the loose end in place as you continue around the wreath form.

Try to wrap this part tightly and keep the strings close together.  Once you have the beginning piece completely covered, you can start going faster, wrapping the strands more loosely and then pushing them together.

 

Continue in this fashion until you've covered the entire form.  It'll probably take about an hour.  I listened to/watched two episodes of Good Eats while I worked on this.

Step Two: Securing the end of the yarn
When you finally get to the end of the wreath, pat yourself on the back.  Then leave about 8"-10" of string attached after you cut the end.

Take out a pin, and tie the end of the yarn around your finger.  Not tightly, and not in a knot.

Take the loop off of your finger, but don't tighten it yet.  Take the pin and insert it through the loop you made on your finger.  Tighten it around the top of the pin, underneath the pin head.  Then wrap the remaining little end of string around the rest of the pin, wrap the length of string around the wreath form.  Insert the pin into the foam to hold the end in place permanently.

 

Now your wreath should look like this!




Step Three: The bow and hanging ribbon
Cut a piece of ribbon about 2 1/2' long for the bow.  Then cut another length of ribbon for hanging; this length depends on how long you want the wreath to hang down.  I cut my length at about 3', but then shortened it quite a bit later.  Wrap the 2 1/2' length of ribbon around the same spot that you pinned the end of the yarn, and tie it once loosely.  Now, take the hanging ribbon and thread it through the bow ribbon.

Now, tighten the bow ribbon, and tie a knot.  This will secure the ribbon.  Then tie the bow.  Remember when  you were first learning how to tie your shoes, with bunny ears?  I've found that to be an easy way to get a decent-looking bow that stays fairly straight and neat.  That's the method I used to make my bow.

We'll trim and treat the edges of the ribbons later.

Step Four: The flowers
Now we need to separate the flowers.  Cut each apart and set them in a cute little pile.

Arrange the flowers on the wreath before you pin them in place.  Once you have them where you want, pin away!  Put as many on as you like.

 

Step Five: Trim the ribbon ends and treat them
Cut the ends of the ribbon, either by angling them or cutting them in a wedge.  Spread a thin layer of Fray Check along the cut edges.  Tie the hanging ribbon to your desired length and cut an angle along the edges of those ribbons.  Treat these ends with Fray Check as well.

Step Six: Hang and enjoy!

All told, I used a bunch of coupons between Hobby Lobby and JoAnn Fabrics, and the total of all of the materials came to around $20.  Not bad, I thought!