yarn wreath

Valentines Yarn Wreath

January 25, 2012 By Jo-Anna 15 Comments

With Valentines Day just around the corner, I figured it was time for me to get some decorations up!

You know me, I can’t let a holiday pass by without putting some sort of something out!

Last year with inspiration from a wreath I saw at the blog Buggy & Bean, I made a yarn ball garland.

And while I did like the garland I put together, I just didn’t love it.

So when I pulled it out of storage this year, I tried to think of some new way to use it.

I knew I didn’t want it on my mantel this year, as I am discovering my tastes have changed…

So of course, my next thought is why not make a wreath for the front door!

So that’s what I did.

I took a styrofoam wreath base and wrapped it with red yarn.

Then just glued on all the yarn balls, pom poms and sparkly hearts.

Done.

It took me all of one hour, and cost me nothing! The best kind of project!

I love the colours…they are cheery and happy!

Perfect for our dreary and cold winter!

Here is what it looks like in the sun!

All sparkly and fun!

I love how you can see the pretty pop of colours from the road!

Well I have one project done, and now I’m on to the next thing…
but I’m just not sure what that is at the moment.

I’m thinking I should put my mantel together, but I’m not sure what theme I want this year…

Do you decorate for Valentines Day? Are you working on anything?

Love-ly Linking:
My Romantic Home, The Shabby Nest, Whipperberry, Remodelaholic, Funky Junk, Nifty Thrifty Things, I Heart Naptime, Positively Splendid, Under the Table and Dreaming, Tip Junkie

Filed Under: DIY, Valentines Day, Valentines Wreath, yarn ball wreath, yarn wreath

Cozy Fall Yarn Wreath

September 4, 2011 By Jo-Anna 31 Comments

September came and suddenly it feels like fall here!

The furnace is on, my plants have all been attacked by aphids, and the kids are back at school.

So, I figured it was time to make a new wreath!

And because I’m still addicted to yarn wreaths, I made another one.

I love how cozy it turned out!

I saw this beautiful rich brown yarn, and I knew it would be perfect for fall.

How much do I love all the flecks of fall colours in it?! So autumn inspired!

Doesn’t it make you think of a cozy sweater!

I have always loved the pinwheel style of these flowers!

What You Need:

material for the flowers: I used 1 sheet of gold felt, and I made the orange flowers out of an old wool sweater!
1 green styrofoam wreath base (I use the compact green bases, not the white crumbly ones)
1 ball of yarn, I used a thick chocolate brown yarn, and it’s flecked with gold, red, green and orange. I bought mine at Michaels.
glue gun
scissors
needle and thread

Let’s do it:
1. Making the wreath. Wrap your styrofoam base with yarn. I have found that the thicker the yarn, the less chance you need to double wrap it. I also like the more rustic look the chunkier yarn gives. To see how to wrap the base, please refer to my previous tutorial here.

2. Cutting the flower petals: I used 1 sheet of gold felt, and material from an old wool sweater. For each flower, cut the material in to 5 circles of the same size. It’s up to you to decide on how big you want the flowers and how many flowers you want. I made 9 flowers of different sizes.

3. Using your needle and thread, sew the thread through a petal as above.

5. Continue threading through all 5 petals. After each petal has been threaded, thread your string back through the first petal, joining all the petals together into a loop.

5. Putting the flowers together: Then pull the thread tight, and the petals will pull into a pinwheel type flower. Sew closed (at the back of the flower in the centre).

6. Glue onto your yarn wreath.

Stay tuned for some other autumn inspired projects this month! That sweater is being repurposed into another little project…

What are you working on?

Filed Under: DIY, fall wreath, felt pinwheel flowers, rosette flowers, yarn wreath, yarn wreath tutorial

Summer Dahlia Yarn Wreath

July 21, 2011 By Jo-Anna 33 Comments

This week I was a guest over at Sew Homegrown, for her Cure the Summertime Blues event!

For this fun summer event, I made a Dahlia Yarn Wreath!

(as you might recall, I have a slight obsession with yarn wreaths. Ok, maybe a big obsession…)

I love this flower so much! Their big pretty faces dazzling up to the sun…

Beautiful!

I thought, wouldn’t they would look so nice on a summer wreath?

So pretty!

Embellishing is my favourite part!

I love argyle, so I thought this touch was perfect!

There are many tutorials out there on how to make these felt flowers,

but I thought I’d add my own, so you can have a one-stop place to create.

They are much easier than they appear!

Here’s How-To:

What You Need:

3 sheets of felt: 1 fuschia, 1 turquoise, 1 gold
1 green styrofoam wreath base (I don’t use the white ones anymore, because they are just too crumbly and delicate. Get the compact green styrofoam ones.)
1 ball of yarn, I used a thick charcoal yarn
embroidery thread (or you can use yarn), in fuschia, turquoise, gold (for the argyle finishing touch)
glue gun
scissors

Let’s do it: (following the little chart above…)

1. Cutting the dahlia petals:

Cut the felt, first into squares: (you may have to adjust the number of petals, depending on how close you glue them together. Here are the numbers that worked for me:

Large dahlia: 16 – 1.5 inch squares, 13 – 1 inch, 11 – 0.5 inch squares
Small dahlia: 12 – 1 inch squares, 9 – 0.5 inch squares

Note: I found that the smallest dahlia didn’t need a 3rd set of petals.

Then, cut the squares into soft edged hexagons, as shown in the picture above in section 1.

2. Using a glue gun, put a line of glue at the bottom of the petal.

3. Fold over and pinch tight, until the glue holds.

4. Putting the flowers together:

Make a 3 inch circle of felt for the large flower, and a 1.5 inch circle for the smaller flower.

Glue the largest petals along the outer edge of the circle first.

5. Then glue the next largest size of petals along the bottom of the first set of petals. Repeat for smallest petals.

6. Making the centre of the flower:

Cut 2 4 x 0.25 inch strips of felt, one out of the same colour as the flower, and one out of yellow felt.

7. Snip along the edges of the strips, as shown in #7.

8. Layer the 2 strips, and roll together to make a circle. Then glue this into the centre of the dahlia.

9. Making the wreath.
Wrap your styrofoam base with yarn. I have found that the thicker the yarn, the less chance you need to double wrap it. I also like the more rustic look the chunkier yarn gives.

For a full tutorial on wrapping the wreath, please refer to a previous post it did, here.