Thursday 8 November 2012

Autumn wreath, Pinterest inspired

Ok, I did promise myself that I would post more often but I tend to promise myself a lot of things and it never gets done. Like losing weight for example. One of these days I hope I can find (and maintain) enough motivation to actually accomplish that goal. Speaking of losing weight, one of my best friends from high school has lost a ton of weight and she looks amazing! Her wedding is coming up very very soon and I know she is going to look beautiful. I wish I could be there with her.

Anyway, if you dont already know, I love Pinterest. I tend to browse it every day and make promises (yes that word again) to myself that I will actually make the things I see on there. Now this doesnt often happen due to basically, what amounts to, life getting in the way. However, every so often I manage to gather the right supplies or food stuff, and find the time to start, and finish, a pinterest project.

I really like the whole wreath idea. I just think it adds that special something to a house that makes it a bit more homey. A while back I came across this gorgeous wreath:
 I love it and I thought it might actually be doable for me. There is a lot that I am unable to buy over here in the uk for the cheap prices that you can get them for in the US.Often when I come across something in pinterest that i would like to make it turns out that I either cant find the products to make it or its just not as cost effective as it would be if I could, say, run over to home depot. Not to mention the fact that over here I dont drive so it would also mean a huge trip out lugging around a buggy, my kids and my shopping goodies. So of course when I find something like this I get quite excited.
 
Ok, so ill get on with it. I gathered up my materials and I got started. Here is my end result:
 
and another:

I am still going to look for some autumny twigs and leaves and add a bit more to it but Im very pleased and how closely it come to the inspiration picture. It took a bit of time but it came out so lovely that I think I will be making more to have one hanging in my house throughout the year!
 
So here is how I made mine.
 
First,  gather your supplies. You will need:
  • Scissors, or a rotary cutter and cutting mat.
  • 35cm diameter polystyrene half round ring
  • tulle in your prefered colours. I used 4 different colours here, about a metre each but this will depend on the fullness you are looking for.
  • ribbons
  • embellishments.
  • (optional) paint

  1. Start by cutting the tulle into strips. The length is up to you, how much you want it hanging off of the wreath. The width didnt matter to me as I was hoping for the very random look of thicker and thinner stripes so I wasnt all too worried about accuracy. If you want a more uniform and neater look you can always take the time to measure out and cut that way. I personally couldnt be bothered with all the fuss so I just cut very straight wavy and uneven strips along the fabric. It would probably make more sense to go through all the tulle and cut all of your strips at the beginning but since I wasnt going on instructions and I had no idea how much tulle I would actually need I just cut as I went.

    
  2. 
    *Optionally, depending on the colours you chose, you might want to paint the wreath so the white doesnt show through. Had I thought ahead I probably would have painted this one with a gold or a light brown.
  3. 
    starting out
    Tie each strip around the wreath, with the knot near the flat edge of the back. I used several different methods of doing this. Not the actual tying of the knots but the way I wrapped the strips. As you can see in the picture I didnt have much rhyme or reason going on and I basically just bunched them up and tied them. I also twisted them or if you would like them a bit more uniform you can fold them in on themselves lengthwise to get a thick strand.
  4. Keep tying the strips around the wreath. I was very random with the order. I just kept filling in the spaces with colours that looked good.
  5.  
    Getting there....
     
  6. Once the wreath is starting to look mostly full, scoot your strips as close to each other as possible. Arrange it so that they arent overlapping each other too much and you get the full effect of each colour.
  7.  It wont look great until you have mostly filled the wreath so dont worry if its not looking perfect. Also dont worry too much about the tails as you can fluff them up at the end.
  8.  
  9. Before you fill the entire wreath make sure you have a space for your bows and embellishments. On this one I folded the larger ribbon in half and tied a bow like that, separated the 2 looks on either side and cut the trailing strands so they wont fray (at an angle or in a V shape) I also threaded through several shorter ribbons before the bow was tight. I tied 2 more bows in the same way with smaller ribbon above and below the bow and then fluffed them all up until I was satisfied.
  10. At this point you can add any other embellishments you want. You can either thread them through the strips or the bows or hot glue. This is up to you. 
  11. I finished it off with another ribbon tied in a loop. I tried stapling the ribbon to the wreath itself but the polystyrene doesnt have enough grip so I ended up threading a ribbon through the back of one of the strips in the back. If you make it short enough it wont show so it doesnt matter what it looks like. 
  12. Done!!
So I apologize if any of that was confusing. Its my first tutorial so bear with me! I hope to add more soon. Here is another wreath Ive made:



 
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I didnt confuse you too much!
 
-Sam-

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