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!