Finished Object: Christmas Wreath Repair

Back in 2006 when I assembled/acquired/fabricated the parts and pieces of my mid-century modern white Christmas tree, I realized that my usual green door wreath would be completely out of place. Around that time I happened across one of those HGTV/DIY shows that combined entertaining tips with do-it-yourself decorating projects. This particular episode (Creative Juice on DIY) was about decorating and cooking for a winter holiday party, and included a how-to on making a felt wreath.*

That happened to be just the key I needed to design my own door wreath. The first year it worked pretty well, though I found that the snowflakes, which had been secured with only ribbon, were floating around, powered by wind, gravity, and humidity. Also, despite the fact that the wreath was protected from precipitation, the humidity would cause the snowflakes to wilt and collapse forward.

After the move, the wreath failed the float to the surface until after the holiday season, and we simply didn’t get around to it again until this year. Last week, pulling it out of its high-class storage trash bag, I discovered (shockingly) that the wreath had held fairly well, but needed some TLC and additional snowflakes due to the shifting issue I previously described.

For the past week I’ve been slowly spreading white glue to the backs of the snowflakes to stiffen them up, cutting out new snowflakes, and applying glitter and beads.

The result:



Not bad. Not bad at all.

Materials:
Wire wreath frame
Blue and white felt
Blue tulle
Light blue 1/4" sheer ribbon
Large eye blue beads (approx 1/4" diameter)
Small grommets
Elmer's all-purpose white glue
Blue glitter glue
Silver glitter glue
Galvanized wire to make hook for hanging
Hot glue
Hot glue gun

Two types of snowflake patterns are made. The top pattern is more intricate, while the base is plain and blocky. Make the same number of top and bottom pieces, but 1/2 in blue and 1/2 white. The number you’ll need depends on their size and the size of your wreath, but my snowflakes are roughly 6" in diameter, and the finished wreath has over a dozen.

It’s been a very long time since I made the original, so the details of its construction are sketchy, but I believe that white felt is also used to wrap and pad the wreath frame, and then covered in tulle. Since it’s covered in tulle, I can only tell you today that a white fabric is beneath.

The snowflakes are decorated separately, then glued and grommeted together. The ribbon then wraps around the wreath, pushed through the grommet and a bead, then down through the grommet and wrapped around the wreath to the next snowflake. Once they’ve been arranged, hot glue holds them nice and tight.

Here’s my original post where I discuss the project, and a close-up view of the wreath. (Holy cow I’ve been blogging a long time!)

Now to return to my Mr. and Mrs Claus repair so I can get my North Pole tableau up before the season is over!

* Here’s a similar project on the HGTV site, but for making a fall-themed felt wreath using a twig base.