Sunday, November 21, 2010

DIY Yarn Wreath

Since we are hosting Thanksgiving this year I wanted to bring some fall colors into the house.  This year is actually our first Thanksgiving as a married couple (we got married last December), so we are excited about having family over for the holidays.


Instead of skipping from Halloween, straight to Christmas, like many people like to do, we are strictly wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate for Christmas kind of people. Christmas is my favorite holiday, by far, but there are so many great things about Thanksgiving and the autumn season that are worth enjoying.


Lately, I have had an itch to hang some wreaths around the house to bring in some fall colors. After coming across this wreath, I knew it would be the perfect project! 


I made my wreath pretty much the same way Danielle did, but with a few different supplies.  


Here's what I started with


A simple styrofoam wreath from Michael's and some yarn from my stash.  I chose a yellow/green color called Moss.  You will see in some light it looks yellow, in others it's more green.  Nonetheless, it says autumn to me.


Next, I tied the yarn around the wreath, knotted it, and began wrapping. I made sure to pull the yarn tight as I went.  The slick texture of the styrofoam made it very easy to slide the yarn around as I needed, and helped the project to go really quickly. 


The wrapping process only took about 30 minutes.  However, as you can see, my wreath is pretty thin. (I love the modern look of the skinny wreath). When I came to the end of the wrapping process, I simply tied a knot around a straight pin, and pushed it into the styrofoam.  Easy as that!  Also, since my wreath is fairly skinny, it used much less yarn than I thought it would.  I could have definitely wrapped my entire wreath with yarn scraps.  There's no need for a whole skein of yarn.      


Since we have an abundance of pine cones hanging around (thank you outrageous number of pine trees in our yard), and they are free, and just lying there for the taking, I knew I wanted to add them to my wreath. I found the perfect Mommy and perfect baby pine cones waiting on me in our front yard. I don't know about you, but these are the most perfect, rustic addition to any fall decor.  (You will be seeing many more of them around the house later on). 


With a little wired twine (I also picked up at Michael's), I attached the pine cones to my wreath.  


Being extra careful not to damage them in the process.


And, with a little wrapping, and twisting the pine cones were attached.


Now, I know this is really pretty plain, and there's isn't much to it, but like I said before, we like to keep things simple around here.  Less is more for most everything except Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (look out for the recipe soon).  You won't be sorry. 

To hang the wreath, I cut a piece of twine and wrapped it around a tack that I hammered into the top of the door, making sure the door could still open and close easily. 

It turned out much better than I could have imagined, and it was quick, easy, and cheap.

This project can easily be adapted to ANY occasion, and I look forward to making some more (it was JUST that easy) - really, you should try it!   


Now, it's back to baking and preparing for the upcoming week! 


(Doesn't the wreath have a great view of the fall leaves outside?  Stay tuned to see more of those...they are more colorful than they look.)

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