Yarn-Wrapped Wreath

This week's project was super easy & super cute.

Gather your supplies:

• wreath form: styrofoam or straw wreath (keep the plastic wrap kept on if you use straw) or scroll down for a really cheap trick.
• yarn: one large skein will be just fine.
• ribbon or extra thick yarn from which to hang the wreath. You could even knit or crochet a long i-cord or braid several strands of yarn to keep the yarn look consistent.
• hot glue gun & glue sticks or craft glue 
• felt sheets from the craft store (or if you have a lot of patience, you can knit 100% wool pieces and make your own felt....um....have fun with that.)
• sharp scissors

Wreath

1. Choose the backside of the wreath. Dab a piece of glue on the back, and stick your yarn to it. Let it dry a little bit. I had to wrap a small section of my straw wreath in duct tape so the hot glue didn't melt the plastic wrap. But I don't think it's that big of a deal.

2. Start wrapping! ...and wrapping...and wrapping.... This doesn't have to be perfect. In fact, overlapping the yarn at different points gives it a nice texture. But, it's totally up to you.

3. When the entire wreath form is covered in yarn, secure the end with glue.

QUICK TIP!

For a couple of the wreaths, we used polyethylene foam pipe insulation tubes. At our local Home Depot, you can buy 4-pack for about $2.75. You circle it up and duct tape the ends together. Each 3-foot tube makes one 13" wreath. This is obviously an amazingly cheap alternative to the $5.99 styrofoam forms you can find at your craft store.

There are two downsides to the polyethylene:

1) The circumference of the tubing is not very wide, so it makes for less decorating space. BUT WAIT! For the gray wreath pictured below, Ali doubled up the foam...she made a big circle, then cut a shorter piece to fit inside the first circle. She duct taped them together, and got a great width for the wreath.
2) The hot glue melts huge holes into the foam. Here's a solution that I've found to work: glue the beginning of your yarn onto the duct tape seam. And if you choose to cut yard-long pieces of yarn and wrap that way, you'll have to glue each yarn seam to the already wrapped yarn on the back. Another solution would be to use basic craft glue that won't leave holes in your wreath.

Now the fun stuff begins.

Felt Roses

1. With sharp scissors, cut a square. The larger the square, the bigger the rose; the smaller the square, the smaller the rose.

 2. Round the corners of the square, cut a circle, then cut a wavy spiral

Leave a little circle at the end of the spiral.

3. Starting at the beginning of the spiral, start rolling it up. Fiddle around with rolling it tightly and rolling it loosely to see the different results you get. Put a dot of glue on that circle that you left at the end when you cut spiral, and attach the rolled-up rose to that circle. Trim that bottom circle if it sticks out too much.

Lovely, aren't they?

The next obvious step is to merge these two creations:

• Choose the top of the wreath.
• Decide where you want the flowers on the wreath, then glue them on.
• Attach your ribbon or yarn or i-cord or your hanging device of choice.

Here's our finished products:

I used one polyethylene tube and Lion Brand Thick & Quick yarn. 

It was very easy to wrap since the yarn is so chunky:

  Ali used Hobby Lobby's I Love this Yarn and two polyethylene tubes duct taped together. I love the width of the wreath, and it's a great size:

 This was a straw wreath form wrapped in Paton's Classic Wool:

Have fun!