Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Easy Burlap Wreath

The colors of the leaves have changed, or fallen off the trees, which can only mean one thing--it's Fall ya'll! All the Halloween decorations have come down, including the witch on the front door, so it was time to make a wreath for Autumn.

I think you will really enjoy this project because it is extremely easy, but looks like you worked very hard. One great thing about this decoration is that it can live indoors or outdoors. 

For this project you will need:
1 square wreath form (wire)
2 rolls of burlap ribbon
1 bunch of faux Fall leaves
Floral wire or Twist ties
1 cardboard initial (typically the first letter of the last name)
1 Glue gun


To begin, fold the end of the first roll of burlap ribbon in half and place underneath the wire wreath form. You can start in any place, so I just chose the middle. Using a length of floral wire (or a twist tie), secure the end of the burlap to the wreath form.



Once the end is secure, pull a loop of the burlap fabric through the top section of the wreath form.


Next pull a loop through the bottom section. You will repeat this over and over. Loop through top, loop through bottom, repeat.


Here is a photo of 4 loops (two on top and two on the bottom).


Continue pulling loops of burlap through the different sections all the way around the wreath form. When you reach the end of the first roll of burlap (about halfway around), secure the end with the wire or twist tie. Then secure the end of the second roll of burlap like when you started, and continue pulling loops through from the back of the wreath form.


You will notice that some of the wire form is visible as you build your wreath. This is okay, because you will scrunch as much fabric in each section as possible, and then when you are finished, you can open the loops where the fabric was folded in half. This fluffs up the wreath and hides the wreath form. If you are not satisfied with the fluffing process, you can use more floral wire to secure the fabric over the form so it is not visible.


You can see here that after opening the loops and fluffing up the wreath, only the bottom left section has a piece of the wire form visible. I left this on purpose to have some sturdy to glue the leaves and monogram onto.


To make the monogram for this easy burlap wreath, I used a cheap cardboard letter purchased at the craft store. I painted one coat of dark and light green paint and let it dry. Then I painted all over with gray. I rubbed some of the gray off with a paper towel so that the green showed through. For added effect, you can use a brown crayon on the edges once the paint dries. This makes it look a little more vintage or rustic.


While the letter is drying, you can begin to arrange the fake leaves on the wreath. I wanted some sticking out of the top and right side of the letter, following the square shape of the wreath. Use a glue gun to secure the leaves.


If the glue looks a little messy it's okay, because you are going to add the letter to the wreath and it will hide that part.


When the monogram is ready, glue the backside (which I left unpainted) with hot glue and stick it on the wreath.



That's it! You're finished. You really won't believe how easy this project is! The part that is most time-consuming is painting the letter for the monogram. 


You can add a loop to the back of this welcoming wreath and hang it on your wall or front door.


I think that I might be addicted to this project now. The possibilities for each season are endless! Just think: green burlap and red ornaments for Christmas, white burlap and blue snowflakes for Winter, yellow burlap and pink flowers for Spring, and more! You could also make one base wreath and have interchangeable pieces instead of making separate wreaths. 

I hope that you enjoyed this perfect craft for Autumn! What do you like best about this time of year?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can you use a round wire form?

Craft E Magee said...

Yes! You can use any shape wire form, as long as there are segments to it that you can pull the loop through.