Spring Wreath

Wow - I have to say Wow.  I saw this wreath on Classically Amber's Blog and thought  - Wow that is beautiful, I want to make one.  I started reading how she made it and couldn't believe it - t-shirts cereal boxes - you've gotta be kidding me - how did you turn those things into this gorgeous wreath - well here's how she did it:

Super Easy Spring Wreath

What’s not to love about taking unused stuff around your home and turning it into cutesie decor? I was really wanting to make a Spring wreath, but I didn’t want to have to go shopping to do it. So I started looking through all my craft supplies, clothes and Goodwill boxes. I’m sorry to say that there are 2 shirts that will never make it to GW. Also…the recycling bin will never lay eyes on some empty cereal boxes. Sorry ’bout that. That’s right, for this project, I used:

• 3 cereal/cracker boxes
• 2 shirts – cut into 2-3″ wide strips, top to bottom
• leftover scrap fabric
• double satin ribbon
• pompom trim
• hot glue

Basic Steps:

1. Cut out large doughnut from cereal boxes
2. Cut out smaller circles of various sizes from cereal boxes
3. Twist fabric around and glue down to small circle cutouts, resembling flowers
4. Glue down fabric flowers to the doughnut cutout. Fill in gaps with ribbon and pompom trim.
5. Glue ribbon strip to back of doughnut to hang wreath by
6. Step back and adore your new Springtime wreath!

Now this is how I did it – in more detail. First, take 2 cereal boxes and find the side seams to unglue them. Lay them down flat, one on top of the other with the plain chipboard side facing up and try to match up the lines [just being OCD or CDO, depending on how obsessive you truly are!]. On the ends of the boxes where they overlap, cut off the flappy parts. You want a straight line where they meet up. Now using your hot glue gun, generously glue one on top of the other. When it dries, you’ll have a bigger area to work with to make your wreath. [So obviously, if you wish for a smaller wreath, you could prob get away with just using one cereal box]. Next, free form draw a big circle over both boxes. About 3 inches in, draw in a smaller circle. It should look like a doughnut, or at least somewhat resemble a doughnut of some sort. It doesn’t have to be perfect. No one will see this part. It’s just the wreath form – or base of your wreath. Cut out the doughnut.  Tip: if you absolutely must get your circle draw on perfectly, then look around your kitchen for bowls and use those to trace around.

With your leftover boxes, draw on smaller circles of various sizes. Tip: use different sized cups if you need perfect circles. These will be the base for your fabric flowers. With your shirt strips, practice rolling up flowers – tight – flat on the table and see if you like the look. If not, experiment with different techniques. The way that I did mine was to start at one end of the strip, rolling it tightly while also twisting the fabric around and around towards the left while also rolling it onto itself. Does that make sense? If you like the look you’ve come up with, then you are ready to glue down. Trigger a big dot of glue onto the middle of your small circle cereal box cutout [with the cereal print side down]. Stick down the beginning rolled-up part of your fabric. Once it dries well enough [few seconds], begin twisting the fabric around the center…randomly gluing on both the board and inside bottom of the fabric and push fabric to it. When you get it all twisted up and glued together, it should resemble a flower – shabby chic-style if you did it my way. If there is any cereal box sticking out from underneath, just trim the board off.

If you want a similar explanation – but with pics – then check out My Sparkle’s fabric flower tut HERE. The differences with mine and her’s is that I wanted my flowers bigger and bulkier…and I was gluing directly to the cereal box circle cutouts. Plus, my flowers are a bit more free form. You can make your flowers however you wish~!

Make your flowers different sizes if you wish – small, medium and large. With your leftover scrap/sewing fabric pieces, you can make the smaller flowers. As you finish gluing each one up, start arranging them on your cereal box wreath form. When you get enough flowers and like the way you have them arranged on the wreath, glue them all down. With any blank spots, go back and add in loops of ribbon and pompom trim. That way, you’ll get a really full, stuffed looking wreath.

On the back, glue one strip of ribbon so that you can hang up your wreath. On one side towards the top, I also tied on a bow to complete the look. Do it however you like, though!

How much did this project cost me? ZERO DOLLARS. Love that. And love it’s shabby chic look!

Note: this wreath is definitely super easy to make. All crafts usually require time spent on them, so if it takes you 30 minutes to craft up or 2 hours, it is normally worth it if you get something cute in the end…especially if it is free! =-) Have fun w/this one.

If you try this, please let me know! I’d love to see how yours turns out, too~!  =-D