A "You Don't Need to Run to the Craft Store" Wreath

You shouldn't need to run the the craft store in order to make an awesome wreath for your door.

I made this wreath in late fall. I tried to come up with a color scheme that would cross through seasons cause I'm not gonna lie, this wreath is a lot of work. I think its worth it, but I didn't want to make another one a couple of months later.

 So, here are the supplies that you will need:

•  A large piece of cardboard
• Yarn
• Fabric scraps
• Sticks {I used left over willow branches from my wedding decorations. Ikea has awesome prices. Collecting stick from the front yard will work fine though!}
• Hot glue/ glue gun
• scissors
• an annoying cat {optional}

First I took my cardboard box and cut a circle. I measured it to the size of my door {keeping in mind that I would be adding several inches to its size}. Once I cut it down to the size I wanted, I cut a smaller circle inside of the other, making a cardboard hoop a few inches thick.

She demands attention... 

My next step was to cut several willow branches into various lengths with the intention of gluing them around the circumference of the cardboard hoop. Make sure you leave enough room so that the longest sticks won't get cause on your door when you open or close it. I found out the hard way {at the end} that I made mine too big  for my door, so my wreath got a haircut. 

snippin

Next, wrap each stick about half way in yard. Hot glue the yarn down as you go. This is the part that takes FOREVER. You could skip this step, but I think it adds something really cool to the finished product.

Dab hot glue at the end to secure yarn; run a line of glue down the side of the stick, twirl the stick to wrap the yarn.

Once you have several sticks done, begin to glue them to the outer edge of your cardboard hoop. The yard side of each stick should be facing towards the inner circle in the hoop. Check it out.

Once you have made your way around the hoop, set the whole thing aside to set {away from your cat} while you make the inside flowers. There are so many fabric flower tutorials online. I'm sure everyone has their favorite. The one I improvised from can be found here. I deviated from this tutorial by using cardboard circles instead of felt squares, I used strips of scrap fabric instead of ribbon, and I didn't roll everything as tight and precise. I made several flowers of various sizes.

 Once you have made enough flowers to cover the inside of the hoop {where the remaining cardboard is still showing}, arrange the flowers however you like and begin to hot glue them down.I attached a ribbon to the back of my wreath in order to hang it on my door.

Let everything dry for a few minutes and you're done!  How lovely! ...and huge

Hi, I am an iPhone pic...please love me anyway.

                                             

What do you think? Have you ever made a wreath for your door? Did it take you as long as this one took me?!