With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, why not consider making a festive wreath for your home? Many people think of wreaths as strictly Christmas decor, but I like to make them for just about any special occasion. Wreaths add a touch of festive flare to your home’s decor and welcome visitors.
For this project, you will need a wreath base (preferably heart-shaped), wired fabric ribbon in a Valentine, color coordinating lace, narrow satin ribbon and any decorative embellishments of your choosing. I prefer to use a straw-based wreath, but you may prefer Styrofoam or another medium. (If using straw, to begin your project, unwrap the straw wreath from it’s packing, perhaps doing this over a garbage can or outdoors to avoid a mess, as the loose straw tends to scatter upon unwrapping.) You will also need an ample supply or straight pins with small heads, and a hot/cold melt glue gun and temperature appropriate glue sticks.
Then, begin by taking your wide fabric Valentine ribbon, pin the end in place on back of wreath base and begin wrapping ribbon around the entire wreath, leaving approximately one-inch spaces in between, where the straw will peek through. As you place the ribbon, pin in place intermittently until entire wreath base is wrapped, then check for placement. Make any necessary adjustments, then when satisfied with the placement, use several straight pins to secure ribbon all over entire wreath base. Use a thimble to push pins in deeply, and avoid them coming loose, concealing the pins as much as possible as you go.
Next, take your color coordinating lace, and repeat the intermittent pinning exactly as you did for the ribbon, only this time filling in the spaces where you left the straw showing between the fabric ribbon. Continue this process until you reach the point where you began. Again, check for placement, adjust lace as needed, then pin lace securely over the entire wreath.
Now, you’re now ready to begin placing the embellishments. I like to cut short lengths of satin ribbon to use as accents (refer to photo included with article). Just use your creatively and imagination to come up with something wonderful! Use the straight pins or glue gun to attach embellishments firmly into place. Remember, this is a decorative item and because of the use of pins and small parts, should never be used as a child’s toy or a pet toy.
If making a Valentine wreath is not your cup of tea but you’d still like to have one, please consider purchasing something handmade from a crafter. As a crafter, I wholly support local crafters offering unique, quality handcrafted items unavailable in stores. Whatever option you choose, enjoy a Happy Valentine’s Day.