So, I finally remembered to actually take step by step photos for a craft project I've been working on! Mostly. It's like 3/4 documented, you'll get the idea. I'm very proud of myself. When you get into craft zone, it's really hard remembering to stop every couple of minutes and take a picture of what you're doing. I'm now convinced that all crafty ladies have a photographer boyfriend or roommate looking over their shoulder, snapping away at photos while they work!
Today I'll be showing you how to make a very simple, rustic-styled wreath. It's not exactly what I envisioned at the start, but I love the weird, quirky cuteness of it. It's part fairy tale, part Blair Witch. I made a few of them recently, one as a memorial wreath for bestie Amy's beloved cat Sidney, and then several for a Forest Animal & Fairy Tale-themed wedding/baby shower I'm throwing for awesome couple-friends of mine.
Here's what it looks like in the end:
I started out buying a bunch of sticks from Hobby Lobby. This size bunch was $7.99, but they were 50% off when I went in. Score! While in that section I also found this big bunch of blue/teal grassy stuff, also half off, and bought it to accent the wreath, as brown and teal were the party theme colors!
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| Blue mystery plant grass! |
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| Sticks! |
So, I started by chopping my wood. I cut the sticks into about foot long sections, and separated my cuts into three piles: Plain, thicker sticks from the end, bushier branchy sections, and tiny single pieces that fell or broke off as I separated the others. Oooops.
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| You could always just got outside and pick up sticks off the ground, ya know. |
Then I took 4 of the thicker sticks, and hot glued them into a diamond shape. (Or a square, they're the same. You can make any shape you want.)
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| The power of hot glue compels you! |
Pick a top to your project. Start hot gluing the branchy, bushier stick sections onto the base, tips pointing in the general direction of the top. I chose a top point, and glued the branches out and upwards. It doesn't have to be perfect. For smaller sticks, I'd just put a drop of glue every few inches to hold it down. Put a few layers of sticks on there.
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| This is some serious crating, y'all. |
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| Total Blair Witch, right? |
Then, I did the same with the blue grass, weaving it between sticks sometimes. This is when I stopped taking photos, but you get the idea. I then added some decorative accents: butterflies I cut out of scrapbook paper, and roses made from dyed coffee filters (info on those at the end).
And Viola: your very own super cute, only slightly creepy, woodsy fairy tale wreath!
Bonus: I took some leftover sticks and grass, and threw them into some lanterns my sister gave me, along with a decorative bird for more party decor.
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| Tweet! Tweet! We're trapped in an adorable lantern! |
**Rose tutorial can be found here:
http://kuchnia-pelna-cudow.blogspot.com/2011/02/zapraszam-na-kawe.html
I followed it almost exactly, using hot glue and india inks.
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| Purty. |
