fall wreath from a lovely guest

Hello everyone, I have a very creative friend who is going to show us how she made this fabulous wreath. Meet Meriel:

So lately, I've been all about Pinterest. It's been my fave go-to app for any inspiration I need, be it craft, food, or design. I seriously love seeing what other people find out there on the internet! (It saves me sooo much time web-surfing!)

For my daughter's birthday I had all this gold tulle laying around from a table skirt I had put together and I wanted to reuse it in a cool way. In walks Pinterest and a wreath that many people have pinned as a to-do fall wreath. On top of reusing the tulle, I also wanted to try another Pinterest pin I had seen popping up where people use plumbing tubes as their wreath bases instead of paying exorbitant amounts at craft stores for foam wreath circles. Genius because it costs less than a dollar for 6 feet and if you have a handy husband like mine, he already had some in the garage. Sweet.

So here's my tutorial because it was super easy and very encouraging for a first time 'wreather' like myself, I figured others would want to know too!

First - the inspiration.



Second - the how-to instructions. (If you click on the pics, you'll be able to see everything closer up for more detail.)

1. You need foam piping, strong tape of some sort (duct, or electrical is what I used), and scissors. Cut the length of piping to your desired length/circular circumference. Mine was 24 inches laying flat, then taped into a circle. (FYI - my circle was a little small and the foam wasn't holding it's shape perfectly well, so my husband helped me cut some hanger wire and stick it inside to help shape it better. I'm assuming with a bigger circle this would not be an issue.)
2. You will also need a lot of tulle. Funny how I started this project with no idea if I would have enough tulle or not...
3. I knew that my gold tulle wouldn't hide the black/grey piping beneath it, so I covered it with strips of white muslin first.
4. I cut my tulle into strips that were about 11-12 inches long and used two strips at a time to give it more depth.



5. Then, with the circle in between my legs (sweet cut-offs, meems) I took the two-at-a-time strips and tied a half knot around the circle with the edges out. Don't finish the knot because it creates ugly space between the tulle ends and the wreath itself. The strips aren't going anywhere, so you're good with just the half knot.
6. Pull it tight and close to the previous knot so there's no space on the side of the wreath either.
7. See? Everything is really close together so you can't see the white underneath, and the tulle is just bulging outwards nice and pretty.
8. Keep repeating all the way around the wreath with your strips. Just to gauge, I used 80 strips (of two per knot) for the entire circle. And that's a small circle, so I'd make sure you have enough tulle before you start.
9. I trimmed the edges a little to make sure it was pretty even around the whole circle, and then hung with ribbon! Can you believe how lucky I was that I literally used my last two strips to finish it? Nothing left over, the perfect amount without knowing to start with... I was totally tempting fate, but I came out victorious.



Lastly - the final product. (With the flash it makes the tulle look really gold!)



Yay! My first wreath. It was really fun and I daresay, really addicting. Especially because I didn't have to buy an $8 foam base at Joanns. Well, hope you like it! You won't see it at my house unless you are invited inside though. I thought it looked cuter inside that on a door facing the street. So this is in my kitchen away from the elements and close up for me to smile at all day.
~Meriel


Thanks for sharing your creativity with us!!! I can't wait to make this myself:)
xoxo~
Sophie