I got a little obsessive with tutorials of deco mesh wreaths over spring break, so Heather and I made my cousin's baby (Lilliana) a pretty pink and leopard one (you can see it on our last blog post). Then we got into a little wreath kick. I made one for our grandma for Easter but completely forgot to take a picture before giving it to her...Then Heather made this one for our mom for Easter.
So since I enjoyed making those wreaths so much (and my supervisor didn't have any decorations on her office door) I decided to make her a wreath to thank her for all of her support! And since I learned how to make them by looking at tutorials, I thought I would make my first ever tutorial and hopefully help someone else out! :)
I got a wire wreath from Hobby Lobby...I didn't check what size, but it was the second smallest they had. Then I hot glued pipe cleaners/chenille stems alternating with the top two wires and the bottom two. Some wreaths come pre-wired, but I think its worth saving a little money to just wire them yourself!
Then I used this dark green deco mesh (I got this short roll--10X35 I think--from Walmart), looped it under so you can't see the end of it, and secured it to the wire wreath by twisting it with one of the outside pipe cleaners.
I continued gathering and twisting the dark green mesh with all of the outside pipe cleaners.
I didn't take a picture after, but I did the same thing with the inside layer of pipe cleaners (and you don't need to cut the mesh in between--that just creates extra work for yourself!)
Next, I used lighter green mesh and did the same thing to start it off, except this time I started on the opposite side and on an inside pipe cleaner.
Then I used this cute green polka dot ribbon from Hobby Lobby and did the exact same thing to start it off (on an inner pipe cleaner)...so far pretty easy, right!?
I did the same thing with the ribbon as I did with the light green--just going to each pipe cleaner as I came to it. And I still hadn't cut either of the mesh or the ribbon at this point..Just in case I saw any areas that I wanted to be a little more full. It's easer to just loosen the pipe cleaners and puff the mesh out a little if it's still attached.
Next, I took some cute sparkly gold ribbon from Hob Lob and cut small little strips and twisted them onto all the pipe cleaners.
I got these cutesy white letters from Hob Lob too, and I planned to make them sparkling gold with Mod Podge and loose fine glitter. I love that look, BUT there is an important step before mod podging and loose glittering (making up my own verbs again...). It's really important to do a quick coat of whatever color paint is close to the color glitter you're going to use. Otherwise any spots that aren't completely covered in glitter will stand out. So I put a quick and sloppy coat of gold paint on these letters
While I waited for the letters to dry, I put a coat of metallic green paint on this mini chalkboard I found at Hob Lob.
While the letters and chalkboard were drying, I hot glued little strips of a white feather boa to the center of every gold ribbon I had twisted down. The hot glue reinforced the twisted pipe cleaner too, which was good. (At this point, I was pretty happy with the fullness, so I cut the mesh and ribbon).
I found a chevron print on Google and printed it out. I put it on top of the chalkboard and traced the pattern with a pencil (pushing down pretty hard so it would make a slight indention in the wood).
In this picture you can kind of see the indention the pencil left.
I used a small paintbrush and did one coat of white paint on top of all the indentions...In retrospect, I probably could have used a paint pen with better control, but I didn't even think of that then!
One more coat of white paint (and more green paint to fix any mishaps)!
While the second coat of paint dried, I added Mod Podge and loose fine gold glitter to the letters. How pretty and sparkly are those?! I love them. You can kind of see how I didn't paint the edges of the letters gold, which just reinforces the importance of painting before glittering!! ;)
Then I went back to the chalkboard...I added Mod Podge with my little paintbrush to all the white areas then sprinkled loose fine white glitter on them. I considered skipping all these steps with the chalkboard and just Mod Podging a scrapbook paper to it, which would look more precise...but I really didn't like the look of paper on a wreath and thought paint and the little imperfections that go with it added to the homemade look.
I forgot to take pictures as I made the letters, but I found a font I liked, printed it up, cut it out, traced it with pencil, then went over my pencil marks twice with a white paint pen. Easy peasy!
I hot glued the chalkboard on the wreath, then the letters.
Then I used my finger to curl the pipe cleaners that were sticking out
Then I used an eraser to clean up the chalkboard a little! And fyi: the school's colors are green, white, and a yellowish gold. So I didn't do St. Patty's Day colors just for fun! ;)
So my wreath addiction is hopefully just beginning because I love to make them! I hope this how-to helped someone as much as the ones I looked at helped me! If it seems like too much work to you and you'd rather just pay someone else to make one for you, hit me up! ;)
-Sarah
