Fabulous Fall Wreath

This wreath is beautiful~if I do say so myself.

I made this wreath 2 years ago, but I really want to showcase how gorgeous it is, how well it has stored and how really simple it is to make!

The list of supplies you need:

1 white Styrofoam wreath form

(mine is an 18" wreath)

Glue gun and lots of glue

Muslin or other neutral color fabric, cut into 2" strips

 (enough fabric to be wrapped around the form-I am not sure how much I used, but it's not a ton, maybe a quarter yard...)

Christmas ornaments in assorted sizes and colors-whatever combination you like

(there are 3 dozen tiny ornaments, 2-3 doz. combined medium and large ornaments, and about 18-24 small ornaments in my wreath)

Decorative ribbon, at least 4 yards

 (more if you want your ribbon larger)

Simply start by wrapping your styro form with the strips of cloth.  I used a couple of heavy pins to secure the fabric at the beginning. Wrap tightly all the way around, and secure the end piece with either glue or more pins.
Lay your wrapped wreath form flat on a table or counter to work with. You will want to keep it flat down as you work around the edges gluing the ornaments. This way the back of your wreath will be flat and hang nicely against a wall.
Now, starting on the inside of the wreath, simply glue large and medium balls to the wreath. ALWAYS TRY TO MAKE 2 OR 3 POINTS OF CONTACT WITH THE GLUE AND EACH ORNAMENT. By this I mean, use plenty of glue to secure the 1st ornament to the form, then the next ornament will be glued to the form and also to the ornament next to it... Always remove the metal caps on the ornaments before gluing...I have learned that the ornament make come out of the cap, and fall and break, while the cap stays nicely glued in place-ugh!
Now glue more ornaments on the outer edge of the wreath, all the way around.
Start back at the center of the wreath, and simply start gluing the ornaments around the form. Use the tiny and  smaller ornaments to fill in the gaps. My wreath actually has 4 different sizes of ornament balls I used a lot of medium and small ones, with the tiny size filling in the little holes. I bought most of them at the discount store's and at Hobby Lobby.  I looked for plastic ones, and there are  lots of those in the wreath to help control breakage, and to lighten the weight. However, I love the look of the very shiny reflective balls too (as you can see in the photo's that my image keeps appearing in the reflections-ha ha) so I used lots of glass one's as well.

Let the wreath stand for a while to make sure the glue is really set and has had time to cool all the way around.  Now carefully pick up your wreath and watch for loose area's.  Re secure any of the wobbly ornaments, and then you are ready to attach the bow!
I simply wrapped a piece of ribbon around the wreath, and then tied my ribbon to the strip.

I used a pipe cleaner to wrap around the form (not the ornaments) just by wiggling in through the maze of balls, twist tied it securely together and I have a hook to hang it with!

The mantle and fireplace in my home are really high.  I mean I need a ladder to put things on the mantel, so the pictures look kind of distorted.  I was too lazy to get my ladder back out and climb up to take better pictures...sorry!
I hope you will try this wreath, it just makes such a beautiful piece in a room!
I am thinking about making a pink, white, and red one for Valentines, with some of the adorable blown glass heart ornaments that are available right now at Christmas.
I would love to see pictures of any wreaths that you make, so drop us a line or note if you do this project!
Best wishes, and happy Fall, Ya' All!

We love linking up with:

DIY Show off Fall Festival

AND WE ARE SOOOO FLATTERED! This post was featured on:

Felted Rose's

 Adding this Tutorial to my flower power collection was a must.
Ellen, from Ellen's Creative Passage in Columbia Missouri has a very detailed, helpful tutorial on her blog about making these flowers and a beautiful wreath that she created using the flowers.
The directions belong to Ellen, but the pictures are my efforts at making the flowers. These are definitely keepers, and I will be making more of them!

 Felted Flowers

Supplies needed:  hot glue gun and glue sticks, scissors, circle patterns (I used bowls), felt (I use wool felt, but you could also use regular felt), and a marking pen

Start by making circles all over your felt...

(Amber used regular felt which is lighter weight)

Now cut out on the inside of the marked line.  You can also just free hand the circles like I do, but I thought I would show you the scientific way to do it!

Now you have your circles all cut out for each of the flowers...

I drew on this circle to show you generally how I cut mine out.  I usually do not mark each circle like this, I just free hand cut each one.  You want to start cutting at the outside of the circle and spiral in toward the center, leaving a larger circle in the center which will become the back of the rose.

 

This is what you have now...

Next pick up the outside or the pointy end of the felt

and begin rolling it up keeping the bottom flat...

keep rolling until you are close to the circle you left...

and this is what you have.  

 

Adjust the circle so that it covers the bottom of the rolled area.  You can see that I made my circle too small, so I am laying part of the cut area on the back of my rose to cover it all.

Now add some hot glue to the flat back area and attach the circle to cover the back.

Now it actually looks like a rose...

Now trim the excess on the petals to even it out.  I don't always make it really even, because I want a more natural look (yes, even though they are blue roses!).

Now look at the edge of the bottom of  the rose.  It will probably look really uneven...

Trim off the excess with your handy dandy scissors...

Ta-Da!!  You have a finished rose!! 

Here is what I made with my 3 flowers...

 

 

And here is what Ellen made over on HER BLOG for a truly fantastic and much more detailed tutorial along with the instructions on how to make this fabulous wreath!

 

Paper Flowers with tute!

I loved this project tutorial and it's endless possibilities, so I gave it a test run...the results are something I can actually show off! This is really simple to do, and pretty fun, and something your children can help with...

As always, a super big thanks to Nicole at madebynicole.blogspot.com for her awesome tute.

Paper Flower Tutorial

This is so easy it feels almost silly to make a tutorial on it but just in case you aren't familiar with the technique, here goes:
(My comments and notes will show in parenthesis)
1. Get ten pieces of thin (not card stock) two sided paper - anything from newspaper to fancy patterned paper works. I used book pages

(I used book pages as well-mine had pictures...lol)


2. Stack them up and cut out a circle.
(I used a 2 1/2" paper punch-too lazy to cut circle's, and my free form circles usually look more like eggs) 

(my circles)

3. Cut spokes into the paper. I made this pic big so you can see what I mean.

4. When you're done it should look like this

(My spokes were not great, but they worked!)

5. Separate you circles. This step is vital as it won't fluff if they're stuck together

(My pile of petals)

6. Re-stack pile

7. Staple through the center of the stack

When you're done it should look like this:

8. Don't panic. I want you take your nice little stack and crumple it in your fist. Trust me, it'll be okay.

(My fat little hand crushing away)

9. Now do it again a few times

(This isn't too hard...)

10. Voila! You did it! Told you it was easy!

11. But we're not done yet. Find the back of the staple. You might lose some petals doing this - no biggie.

12. Press the back of the staple side down against your table to make a flat bottom

 
(As you can see, Nicole's tutorial is fabulous. I followed her directions and took the same types of photo's and by dang it worked!!)

(This is my flower, with a button placed in the center. It's not completed because I still need to add the thread to the button, but you get the drift, right?)

HERE IS A PHOTO WITH SOME OF THE FLOWERS NICOLE HAS MADE...BE SURE TO CHECK OUT HER BLOG POST FOR INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO COLOR YOUR FLOWERS, AND GREAT IDEA'S AND USE'S FOR THESE ADORABLE FLOWERS!!!