Fishing Line And A Wreath

Now that my wreath is all fluffed and ready for decorating, I will add a few simple items and some fishing line.

I've purchased two different pieces of greenery from the dollar store.  You've probably noticed that I've shown several projects with items from the dollar store.  The purpose of this is to demonstrate the possibilities of Christmas decorating.  Over the years I have listened to so many people say that they could never afford or have anything that looked near as nice as some of the items they see in stores.  That is simply not true!  Regardless of your budget, there is no reason that your Christmas decorating or decorations can't look every bit as nice as anything you see in magazines or those fancy Christmas stores.  I hope that some of what I have shown over the past month has changed peoples minds

I'm adding a quick little video here to show how I cut apart the artificial greenery. 

Now that I have cut apart the greenery I will begin.

Here is my wreath all fluffed and you can see all the greenery just at the bottom left

I have gone ahead and snipped several pieces of wire approximately 4 inches long.  I will use these wires to attach the greenery to the wreath.

Place the wire through the greenery as shown.  Wiring the greenery as shown will eliminate it from slipping out of the wire and your project

I figure out where I want to place each piece of greenery and just stick it into the wreath ready to be wired

I want to make sure I wire each piece right into the wreath for two reasons.  It adds depth and ensures that the stems aren't visible once wired on

Now that the stem is wired on, I gently pull up the branches from the wreath all around the stem.  Once I have added all the stems I then decide where I want to place my bow.  I will spread the branches which not only gives me a visual of where the bow will be placed but also allows me to wire the bow right into the wreath. 

I have some glittery wooden spun balls to add which I just love. 

These were also purchased at the dollar store. 

  I have placed a wire through one end of the ball and will now wire it right into the wreath as I did the stems. 

Remember, it is important to add your items right into your project and not on the ends of the branches.

Here is the finished wreath.  I now have the option to add as much or as little as I want to the wreath depending on the look I am going for.  I went for the less is more look on this one.

First let me apologize for the lighting in this picture, I tried several times.  What I wanted to show here is how the wreath looks like it is hung on a wall.  It is actually hanging by fishing line.  I don't want to add a nail to the wall so a perfect alternative is to hang is using fishing line.  I took a long piece of fishing line and ran it around the wire on the back of the wreath.  Just like you would hang a charm on a necklace.  I then took the two ends and tied them around a rung on my stair case.  Voila, no nail holes and every one's happy! 

Have you ever driven by a home and seen a wreath hanging on a door without a hanger and wondered how they did it?  Here's how.

Open the door you would like to hang a wreath from.  Take a thumb tack and push it into the middle of the top edge of the door until it is just flat to the door.  This will only work if that piece you are trying to add the thumb tack to is wood, it will not work on metal doors.

Wrap the fishing line around the wreath as previously discussed and slip one end of the fishing line around and under the top of the thumb tack.  The fishing line should slip easily under the tack.  Slide the fishing line until the desired height you want the wreath to hang, is achieved.  Tie the fishing line, trim the ends and close your door.  I always like to slide the fishing ling around so the knot is behind the wreath and hidden.

Where ever you are in your day, I hope you are enjoying it!

Wishing you many wonderful creations!

A Christmas Wreath ....

...and a tutorial.

Happy Friday everyone and here's to the weekend!

If you follow my blog at all, you know I love Christmas.  I've made a card today and I want to share how it was done .  If you love this wreath as much as I do, follow along and you'll be on your way to creating your very own.

Beginning with the placement of the wreath,





I placed my cardstock for the sentiment at the top of the card allowing me to see how much room I had and how large I wanted the wreath to be.  Next, I used a quarter to visualize where the centre of the wreath would sit.

I used a Martha Stewart Pine Branch punch and punched out several branches in three different shades of green.  This will give the wreath some depth.

I used a post it note pad and squeezed out a small amount of clear drying glue.   Now I'm ready to go.  You can always add more glue as you go along.  You don't want the glue drying out on you.

I begin by placing four branches around the quarter to make sure I'm happy with the size.

Dipping the end of the branch in the glue, I begin to create the wreath starting with the darkest of the three colours of branches.

Here you will see the first four branches glued in place.  Looking good!

One thing I love about this particular branch punch is that the leaves, once punched have a bit of a curl to them which is perfect for this project.

For the next row, I repeat what I did with the first four branches to make sure once again I am happy with the size of the wreath.  I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm positioning the leaves in a circular motion counter clock wise around the quarter.  It doesn't matter whether it's clock wise or counter clockwise as long as the branches aren't positioned straight out from the quarter.  A real wreath from a garden centre is wound or tied around a metal frame.  The branches don't stick straight out the way an artificial wreath would.  Just a tip!  The choice is yours however I believe it makes for a more natural looking wreath.

 Once again I will glue the branches to the card and this will form my outer ring that I will use as a guideline.

  

I continue to glue branches in the same direction and have now started to add the next colour of green to create some depth.  I started with the darkest shade and I'll move along to the next shade until I reach the lightest, which will be added last. You'll notice I've now begun to add the branches between the two rows I had created and don't be afraid to overlap as this creates some volume to the wreath and hides the ends of the branches that are glued to the cardstock.

Here you will see the layers and how nicely the wreath is coming together.

Here is a view looking down.  Looking better!

At this point I want to make make sure I have a fairly round wreath.   I add the final branches while making sure to hide any ends of branches showing and then for that extra touch I will add a few branches going in the other direction.  What?  Branches going in the other direction??  Trust me!  You'll see how nicely it finishes it off.  Above, I've used a stylus to point to one of the lightest colour of branches that I've added and to show how it's positioned in the opposite direction.

Here is the final wreath and you'll see there is still some white glue showing but it will dry clear.

This gives you a better idea of how full the wreath is and by adding just a few branches in the opposite direction, it finishes the look nicely.  

I made a very small bow with a bit longer tails (tails are the long ends on the bow) allowing me to weave some of the ribbon through the wreath.  To see how this style of bow was made visit the video on my blog.  The concept of the bow I tied doesn't really change only the size of the ribbon and bow.  You'll notice that I've added a larger amount of glue, this is to ensure that the bow adheres well to the wreath.  I'm holding the bow down with the stylus to help secure it in place.

 Once the glue on the bow was dry I played with the loops a bit to get them where I wanted them.  I also punched some more branches but in red this time and added them and a few small flowers to the wreath to give it that extra little something.  How you decorate your wreath is entirely up to you. 

I secured the tails of the bow down with the tiniest piece of dimensional that I cut.  I find it works best.  Glue may mark or stain the ribbon.  If you use a coloured marker you can match the dimensional to the colour of your ribbon so it doesn't show, that's what I did.

 I cut two Spellbinders Nestabilities - labels 21 for the top, one in Real Red and the other from a scrap piece of Kraft cardstock.  The sentiment is from Stampabilities and stamped in Real Red. Both label die cuts were secured on to the card with large dimensionals.

Once again, here is my card.
I'm thinking blue and silver.  Can't you just picture a silver wreath with a touch of blue? 

Wherever you are in your day, I hope you're enjoying it!
Wishing you many wonderful creations