Sports Wreaths

OK - next project!  This one was a series of Christmas Gifts I pulled together - borrowed, naturally, from a projects I saw on Pinterest! 

OK - inspiration project: http://occasionallycrafty.blogspot.com/2011/09/three-things-thursday-wreaths.html  This site actually has a ton of really cute home ideas, and is worth browsing through when there's time.

I knew when I saw her images that I had a gift for my sister and her husband (who is a HUGE OU fan).  It was something that I could make for relatively low cost with materials I had on hand.  here was my version:

I think it turned out really well!  The argyle pattern came together really easily with that black accent line, and the flowers were super easy to do up.  The longest part of the project for me was cutting out the OU logo!

Here are a few notes about supplies:  This really comes together with a wreath form, yarn, and felt.  And that's it!  Wreath forms are EXPENSIVE so I stopped at my local hardware store and picked up a 6 pack of foam pipe insulation, which I easily snipped (to get the right size, totally optional) then duck taped into a circle form.  I used white yarn to wrap the shapes (easiest if you create small balls to pass through the hole, and have a few episodes of TV to catch up on!).  I created a diamond shape template and cut lots of colored squares, then let the gluing begin!

A note about using foam pipe insulation - it doesn't handle hot glue like normal wreath foam does.  So you have to use low temp, or use non-heated glue (Gorilla would work well, but is messy!).  Arrange the diamonds around the circle, use a small ball of black yarn to wrap the form twice to complete the argyle pattern, and lay some logos on top!

Yes - lots of packer fans in my family...

Here's a little note on the flowers - SUPER easy to make!  Start with a big circle (the diameter should match the total size of the flower you want to make).  You will usually need 5 circles per flower (plus something on the bottom to hold it all together).  Fold it in half top to bottom, then fold in half again horizontally (make sense?  That's pictures 2 and 3 below).  Arrange them in a circle like the last photo - they look a little like Fortune Cookies!  You'll glue the bottom four together then stick a 5th one straight down into the gap that is created at the top.

A note here - for consistency, they should all be oriented the same.  My photo below shows how I preferred them to look - the "folds" were always on the bottom, and the openings were at the tome.  Putting the folded corner in the bottom center gave me something easy to glue.  Play with organization though to see what you like.

Also - hot glue worked well for me on this - however, heat transfers through felt like nothing - so be careful not to burn yourself!

Make a TON of them.  You can kind of see in this picture how each flower has 4 on the bottom, and one smooshed in at the top.  If this isn't making sense, just let me know.

Of course you can do LOTS of things to make felt flowers - here were a few others I came up with while playing - the one on the left uses the same folding technique as above, but I rolled one into something like a small rose bud.  On the left, I took a square shape (leftover diamonds from the wreaths, actually) and a circle from my scraps, then cut a spiral in the middle.  Starting at the center, I just started tightening the spiral a bit so that the layers started to overlap.  This was really easy because the felt kind of sticks to itself to hold everything in place.  i can see this working with any fabric!

 

Anyway, hope you enjoyed!  If you have questions about these wreaths or left flowers, let me know!  Check out the link at the top to see the original idea, but also take a peek at this other fun yarn/felt wreath, source: http://josephinekimberling.blogspot.com/2011/12/cozy-christmas-wreath-project.html