Wreath Tutorial

Here's a bonus post today.  I wanted to get my holiday events schedule posted, because it's the beginning of November, and I wanted to post my wreath tutorial.  I'll be posting more wreath ideas soon but wanted to share how to begin one.  This is the wreath we made at my Simply Scored class last week.  I kept it fairly simple because it was for a class.  More embellishments can be added as you feel you're ready to do so and as you start having more ideas for things to add.  This one does have a ton of buttons and antique brads on it, so it's pretty nice.

Here's the wreath.  It uses DSP from our Spice Cake Product Suite, along with the coordinating buttons.  I also used some of our antique brads.  All products are Stampin' Up!

Here's a close-up of some of the medallions so you can see how they overlap.

Here's the back of the wreath.  I tore strips of our fabric and wrapped it tightly around the wooden wreath base.  I added one more strip to tie the last end, so it wouldn't come unwrapped.  I let it hang down and made 'v' cuts in the ends of the fabric strips.  I don't have a hanger on it because I thought I'd be hanging it over my wreath hooks.  I may need to go back and tie on a hanger to make sure that I don't mess it up when I hook it over the wreath hook.  Tip:  This sized wreath will fit onto a 12 X 12" piece of cardboard, if you do not have a wooden form.  I just really like working with the form.  I had my carpenter cut them for me.

You start with our Simply Scored tool.  Here, I'm showing a strip of CS that I started scoring at every 1/4."  I sponged it so you could see the score lines better.

Close-up.

 Even closer:)  I used the smaller tipped end of the stylus.

Once you get it all scored, you start accordion pleating the entire strip.  This just shows how it's started.

Here's a strip that's finished being folded.

Another view:

Next, you overlap the ends and glue it.  Hold it in place a while to get the glue to hold tightly while it sets.  It dries fairly quickly.  Tip:  We used our Liquid Tombow glue (green cap:)  Keep a baby wipe handy, to blot the glue off from your fingers as you work.

Now flatten it and adhere it to a circle on the back of it.  Here's what the back will look like.

On the front side, I added another circle.  I actually put a drop of glue right down into the center and then glued on this punched circle.  Tip:  The size of punched circle you use depends on the size of your medallion.  This wreath uses 1" and 1 1/2" strips to form the medallions.  The fuller ones have 2 strips glued together before attaching to the punched circles.

You can layer different sizes of medallions to add further texture.

Here's a series of close-ups of the medallions, so you can see how they are embellished.  I used hemp inside the buttons.  You could also try linen thread.

Tip:  The antique brad goes through a punched circle which is glued on top of the original punched circle.  It does not go through all the medallion.  Tip:  Be sure to flatten the back of the brad before gluing so it doesn't stick up too high and make it difficult to glue.  You'll need to hold all your embellishments in place until the glue starts to dry and adhere.

Once you get all your medallions finished, arrange them onto your wreath base until you get a design you like.  You can always add more medallions or embellishments, if you feel like you have any gaps or uneven places in your design.  Try to keep it circular and balanced.  Tip:  I made 2 of these wreaths.  The first one, I used the Liquid Tombow to adhere the medallions onto the wreath base.  I clamped them so I didn't have to hold them until the glue dried.  When I made the second wreath, I attached them with my hot glue gun.

And here, again, is the finished wreath.  I am actually thinking of adding some leaves to it later, so come back soon and check it out.