Lemonhead Spring Wreath

Bright yellow is such a cheerful color.  It reminds me of springtime.  This wreath looks like it's made from tasty Lemonhead candy, but not to worry.  No Lemonheads were harmed in the making of this wreath.  It's made from ping pong balls, of all things.

Materials needed:

• 98 ping pong balls - Buy a gross (12 dozen) online.  They don't have to be fancy ones, just cheap craft ones are fine.  I bought mine on Amazon.  Ebay is a good source too.
• 12 inch styrofoam wreath 
• Yellow spray paint - I bought one that said it is meant for plastic.  Look for a color that reminds you of lemons.
• White glitter
• Spray glue
• silk flowers
• ribbon
• hot glue

Spray your foam wreath with the yellow spray paint and let it fully dry.  Take that hot glue gun and glue on all of the ping pong balls.  This is trickier than it looks.  You would think that they would all line up perfectly, but because they're on a round wreath you need to leave little gaps to get the right spacing.  You might want to line them all up to make sure the spacing will work before you start gluing.  You will make five rows of balls.  I started with the inside row and then the outside one.  I worked toward the center row.  That way you can make sure the back of your wreath will lie flat.  The center row ended up not lying flat on the wreath, so several balls in that row are glued to other rows rather than to the wreath itself, which is fine.  You can't tell after it's all painted.

Next go to town with that yellow spray paint.  I painted it outside, even though it's still cold and wintery.  We were lucky enough to have a day around 50 degrees, which was just warm enough to paint.  I brought it inside after I did several coats so I could be sure the temperature was warm enough to fully dry the paint for 24 hours.

After the paint has fully dried, take some spray adhesive and spray small sections of the wreath and immediately sprinkle with your white glitter.  Spray adhesive dries quickly, so it's better to do a small bit at a time.  You could probably use spray glitter instead if you have some.

After the paint and glitter is fully dry, you can attach flowers or ribbon or other decorations.  Then hang it on your door.  I used a flat thumb tack to attach the hanging ribbon to the top of my wood door.

Spring is almost here!

Here are a few other Lemonhead wreaths I found online that inspired me to make this one.   

{Lil' Luna} {Sweet Pea}.

Valentines Day Wreath

I've seen a lot of baking cup or coffee filter decroations, and I thought a baking cup wreath would be perfect for Valentine's Day.

To make this wreath you will need:
-1 12-inch straw or Styrofoam wreath
-Red or pink ribbon-enough to cover the wreath
-100 cupcake papers in Valentine's colors
-Small wooden letters/shapes
-Pink acrylic craft paint
-hot glue gun
-breads, string, and a needle
-a paperclip

Wrap your ribbon around the wreath to cover all of the straw / styrofoam.  Then get out your cupcake baking cups.  Here are the cupcake baking cups I chose:  Cute huh?  I wish you could see the hearts in the wreath, but they're all covered.

Take the cups and fold them like this:

Then add a drop of hot glue on the end and start sticking them on your ribbon covered wreath.

Try to vary the direction of the cups as you go so you get nice even coverage.

Once you've covered it all, it's time for the beads and words.  I bought a variety bag of small wooden letters and shapes.  Pick out the word and hearts you want to use and paint the letters pink with your craft paint.  While they're drying, string your beads.  I used a piece of mono-filament string and sewed it onto the ribbon on the back of the wreath.  Then I strung the beads and attached the other end of the string with the needle.

 Flip your wreath over and, using hot glue, glue your word onto the beads.  I thought about using a piece of ribbon instead of a string of beads, but I like the look of beads better.  Then hot glue any wooden hearts you'd like to right onto your baking cups.

Lastly, I used a paperclip to make a loop to hang the wreath on my door.

Now hang up your pretty pretty wreath and admire it with your Valentine.

I'm linking up to Tatertots and Jello and Nesting Place.  They were my inspiration.

Halloween Tulle Wreath

I've seen a few different versions of black tulle wreaths, so I attempted my own. The great thing about this wreath is that it requires no glue or sewing. I'm limited to Walmart for crafting supplies unless I can find the patience for online ordering or I want to make a 2 1/2 hour drive to the nearest Hobby Lobby.

To follow this tutorial, you will need:

One 12 inch wreath frame,
4 and 1/4 yards of black tulle,
a few inches of thin wire,
an orange ribbon,
and Halloween spider rings.

Many tutorials use spools of black tulle, but I couldn't find any in the stores near me. I have also seen versions of this wreath using a Styrofoam or straw wreath or an embroidery hoop. If you use a light colored wreath I recommend either spray painting it black or covering it in black ribbon prior to tying the tulle.

First, cutting the tulle:

The fabric I bought was 54 inches wide, so that divides easily into 3, 18 inch wide strips. To cut the tulle easily, roll it up so you have a roll 54 inches wide.
Just snip it into three rolls 18 inches wide each.Then unroll each of the three pieces and individually roll them back up the other long way. I then cut these three long rolls into 1 1/2 inch pieces to make my tying strips. This is the same process you can use when making tutus.Use two tulle strips together for more fullness and tie them onto the wreath with a square knot. As you tie, bunch the strips together as thickly as you prefer.For the bow, I used orange wired ribbon and loosely followed this youtube tutorial. Use the wire to hold the bow together and to attach it to the wreath. Use another small piece of wire to make a loop at the top of the wreath for hanging. I added spider rings by just stringing a piece of tulle through the ring. You could also try some orange Halloween lights or other decorations, or leave it plain for a more classic look.