The Wreathing

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!  

Blue mystery plant grass!

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.

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.)  

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.  

This is some serious crating, y'all.  

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.

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.  

Purty.