With September being only 1 month away and Costco already selling Christmas stuff, I thought it was OK to start on some Holiday crafts. I did some of these last year too and really like the way they add to the Holiday spirit. This one is for a friends wedding. I liked getting decor stuff as a wedding gift. It instantly adds a spirit to the home that I enjoy. I'm hoping my friend will like this (I made her something else too so I'm not totally going Scrooge on her)Also, before I go on to the tutorial, I wanted to apologize for the out-of-focus pictures. I have been having camera issues and the camera Korie gave me, I dropped on the floor and now it won't work so the camera issues continue... Anyway;
Like I said, I did these last year but didn't really add the tutorial. You will need around 400-500 strips of paper. It sounds like a lot until you consider that each piece of 12x12 will yield you around 24 strips. So that is about 16-20 pieces of 12x12. The idea is to use multiples of the same paper. In this project I used 4 pieces of the same patterned paper. Cut the 12x12 into 6x1 inch strips.
I cut them out and lay them out to wait for the next step
You can do as many different patterns as you want, I suggest adding in some solids throughout the wreath to even out the business. I find that packs work best for his kind of craft as the manufacturer already put in the time to make everything match.
After all the strips are cut up, you need to staple each strip at the ends. This can be monotonous so I find that doing this project in front of the TV helps.
I also find that if I break them down into manageable piles then I can get through them easier.
As I staple them, they go into a box or bag for safe keeping. My daughter could make a huge mess with these!!
I used a standard 10 inch wreath for this project, you can go as big or as small as you would like (obviously) you would just need to adjust the amount of paper and if you went smaller I would go 4x1.
Once everything is cut and stapled the only thing left is attaching them to the form. When I read about this project in Creating Keepsakes, the person glue-gunned hers on. This didn't work for me, so I went to straight pins. You can buy a box of straight pins at Walmart for less than 2 dollars. I would also recommend buying a thimble as the constant pushing in of the pins gets hard on your finger. I also found that the white styrofoam ones are easier to push into but since that's not what I had on hand and money is tight, I went with what I had.
And the final result is:
Close up
Hanging from the door.
All in all, this project took 2 nights - once the strips start going on it's pretty easy to do. Just remember your thimble!!!
So... is this something you gals would want to win in a giveaway? If so leave some comments and there may be an annoucement in the near future.
Thanks for stopping by
~Tennille~
