Valentine's Day Wreath

If there was a crafting category of “making something from almost nothing”, it would describe this wreath. A few yards of felt is transformed into something worthy of hanging on your front door. I got this idea from a blog I came across recently called “Our Best Bites”. Here is the link to their craft:
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/01/weekend-crafting-valentine-rosette-wreath/

Check our their step by step directions for making the sweet rosettes. I followed the same basic steps but wanted the wreath to be in the shape of a heart. While I am sure that JoAnn Fabrics must have had a Styrofoam form in a heart shape, it eluded me today so I made my own using materials I already had at home.

This wreath is a simple craft but is deceptively time consuming. I estimate that there are about 200 rosettes on my heart wreath. Make it a family project and ask for some helping hands if you make this at your house!

Thanks to “Our Best Bites” for the idea and inspiration.

Here is what I did:

1. Use cardboard as the back of your wreath. Trace a heart on the cardboard and cut out.

2. To add depth, glue some stuffing to the form. I used polyester pillow stuffing; in a pinch cotton balls would work fine too.

3. Wrap the heart form with 3 inch strips of felt or use ribbon. The goal is to enclose the filling and to give the heart a base color so that any empty spaces won’t be so obvious when the craft is completed. I stapled the felt strips to the cardboard backing. You'll hide the staples later on when you add the rosettes.

4. Start making rosettes. I used about a 3 or 4 inch square of felt. Cut spirals then roll them up to form the flowers. No need to be perfect. The variety of colors and sizes all meld together when the rosettes are added to the wreath.

When you think you’ve made enough rosettes…double that amount! I laughed when I first glued on what I thought would have been plenty of rosettes but only made it a small portion of the way around the heart. Keep rolling that felt!

5. Use a glue gun to position the rosettes on the wreath. Before adding the felt flowers all the way around, add a loop of ribbon which will be used later to hang the wreath. I used about 2 yards of felt in all.

I linked to http://www.houseofhepworths.com/2012/01/18/hookin-up-with-hoh-83/
and to http://www.toysinthedryer.com/2012/01/fun-stuff-fridays-7.htmland to http://www.skiptomylou.org/2012/01/23/made-by-you-monday-84/ and to http://www.itsoverflowing.com/2012/02/overflowing-with-creativity-8.html