Halloween Wreath with Felt and Ribbon

Don't ask me why, but I was inspired to make a Halloween wreath in late Spring.  Chalk it up to Pinterest overload, I guess.  Side note: Pinterest has also given me a little craft ADD to the point where I have 3 or 4 projects going on at a time.  Anyway, this was one that I managed to complete (even though it took me a couple of days and a few projects later).

Here's my finished wreath:

Materials:

18" flat, round wreath form
1.5 sheets of felt in 4 colors
3 colors of ribbon
wooden letters
Lots of hot glue

First, I cut my felt into 5"x1" strips with my rotary cutter.  I cut 5" pieces of ribbon too.  I tied them into knots as I went, and placed them in a shoe box so they wouldn't get all over when I was working on other projects. :)

Then, I laid my form out and started hot gluing these knots on randomly. I just eyeballed it to find a "pattern" and thickness that I liked.

In the future, if I used this same technique on this same form, I would wrap the form with black (or whatever color was appropriate) ribbon to hide the form so I wouldn't have to worry about any showing through. 

I coninued the wreath in this way, all the way around.  And, here's what it looked like after gluing the pieces all over:

(Please ignore the messy background- that's a byproduct of my craft ADD).  If the form was smaller, like 12" or 14", I might have left it like this.  But, I felt like it was calling for something in the middle.  I brainstormed for a while, and decided to get some wooden letters spelling BOO. They came unfinished, so the first thing I did was paint them.  I used regular acrylic paint in purple, orange, and lime green.  Then, I added polka dots using the back of a dried pen in a contrasting color.

From here, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do.  I knew I wanted them in the center of the wreath, but they weren't big enough to stretch across on their own.  I decided to cut long strips of black felt and have the letters hang from the top of the wreath.  I doubled the strip over and knotted the loose ends. I wasn't worried about the knot showing, since thats how I made the rest of the wreath, so I hot glued the knotted end of the felt to the top of the letter, like this:

I attached the folded end of the strip to the back of the wreath form in varying lengths with more hot glue.  And here it is again:

I like the way it came out, even if it wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I started. This technique was so easy, and I think it lends itself well to other holidays/ occasions.  I have some other wreaths in mind in this style, but it'll have to wait until I try all the other ideas on my Pinterest craft board.  If you'd like to see what I have on my list to do, check out my Pinterest board DIY and Crafts- To Try.  Find it here:

http://pinterest.com/lalandry925/diy-crafts-to-try/

Fabric Pom Pom Flower

I'm back already! Even though I am having a boy, I have started dabbling in little girls' clips and headbands.  This is inspired by a tutorial I found on Pinterest (as most of my crafts are, in one way or another).  Here is how I made these sweet fabric pom pom flowers:

I'm not sure the pictures do it justice, but it's all I've got. I chose to make them in patriotic colors for 4th of July, but they look great in all colors, patterns or solids.

Materials:
-one strip of fabric about 18" long by 2.5" (it can be done with strips of different lengths and widths, it will just make the flowers bigger or smalled.)
-needle and thread
-hot glue gun and sticks

I used my new handy rotary cutter and mat to cut my strip, but scissors work just fine.  These aren't meant to be perfect, so I think it's okay if there is fraying.

After I cut my initial strip, I cut it again into two pieces.  One is about 11" long, and the other is about 7". The measurement is not too specific, you just need one strip a little longer than the other.

You will notice that I was lazy and did not iron the fabric before starting.  I didn't find it necessary, but if you want to, by all means do it.  My hat goes off to you for your patience. :)

Take the long strip and fold it lengthwise.  You can iron at this step to keep the fold sharp, but again, I didn't bother and I didn't find it to cause a problem.  While holding the folded edge, take your scissors and cut into the loose sides, going almost all the way to the fold.  Each cut is about 1/4 of an inch apart, but it doesn't need to be precise.  Continue cutting this way all the way to the end of the long strip.



Once you have it cut all the way, get your needle and thread ready.  Starting at one edge, do an in and out stitch, creating a messy accordian fold in your fabric, like this:

When you get to the other end, pull your string tight, until the fabric pulls into a circle:

Then, complete the circle and tie a knot, securing both sides of the fabric to each other.  Your knots and stitches will be hidden in the finished product, so I usually go a little over board.  This is what it should look like when finished:

This will be the base of your fabric flower. Next, you will use the smaller strip of fabric to create the center and give your flower some volume.  Fold the small strip in half lengthwise, and cut into the loose edges as you did with the long piece.  However, this time, instead of using needle and thread, we will use hot glue to bind it.  Keeping the strip folded lengthwise, start at one edge and roll.  Periodically, stop and add a dot of hot glue to keep the layers together.  Make sure you roll and glue on the folded/ non cut side.

When you get to the end of the roll, secure with hot glue.  And, now, you are almost done!

Finally, I glue it together by placing hot glue around the outside of the little roll and squeezing it into the center ring of the big piece.  I turn it over and put a layer of hot glue on the bottom for good measure.  Then you have a pom pom flower for a clip or headband, or whatever else your heart desires.

This tutorial seems long and like it will take a while to complete, but I can make one in about 15 minutes, start to finish.  Just takes a little practice.  Good luck and happy crafting!





Wreath with Monogram and Flowers

Wow. I thought it had been a while before my last post, but that was 3 months ago and I haven't had a spare second to write anything. With school finally out for summer, my creative juices have started flowing AND I actually have time to work on my crafts.  I wanted to share with you a spring/summer wreath I made for my mother-in-law's birthday that I made inspired by pins on Pinterest.

Here's what you need:
-1 wrapped grapevine wreath form (I got mine at Jo-Ann's for about $4. It's 18", but I think any size would work the same)
-several bunches of silk flowers in your desired color scheme/ seasonal inspiration. (the amount you need will vary based on the fullness and size of your wreath and the size of the flowers you choose. I bought about 5 small bunchs of flowers- on sale for $1 a piece at Michael's- and only used about half)
-a hot glue gun and lots of glue sticks
-a wood moonogram letter

I started by pulling the flowers and leaves off of the stems.  For the flowers, I left a couple of inches on the stem in case I needed the extra length for placement in the wreath.  But, if the wire in the stem was too hard to cut, I just pulled off the flower top.  That's all you really need.  I separated the leaves and the flowers into two separate containers so they would stay in place, even if I walked away from the project or worked on something else in between.

Then, I placed my wreath flat on my table and started laying out flowers in a way that I liked.  Since this was my first one, I placed them before gluing.  In the future, I think I could glue as I go and that would cut back on the time this project takes overall (for me, it was about an hour and a half- from cutting the flowers to finish). 



When I felt comfortable, I went back and started hot gluing the flowers done.  I made sure to get glue on the stem and grapevine so it was secure.  Be careful, the petals are so thin the hot glue can come through and burn you. I just kept fillining in and adding until I was happy with the outcome.  I glued the monogram on last.  Here's what mine looked like when it was finished:

I have also seen these wreaths with address numbers or whole last names on them, both of which are good options. All in all, since I only used half of the flowers, this project came in around $8! It looks a lot more expensive, and I am very happy with the outcome. 

I am planning on blogging  and crafting more frequently over the summer, and even adding an etsy shop! On top of that, I am getting ready for my baby's arrival in Septemeber, so this will be a busy summer. Luckily, I have no intention of going outside since I live in New Orleans and need the air conditioning! Enjoy your summer and happy crafting!