I've felt crazy unproductive for the last few weeks.
Valentine's is nearly here (like 11 days away guys!) and my valentine decor is sorely lacking.
I've done a couple projects over the years but I have about a half of a box filled with pieces to put out.
Sad times.
And I've got great ideas swirling around in my head...just have had no energy whatsoever to put them into action.
Take for instance the fact that I wanted to make a new Valentine's wreath...well actually I just wanted a new wreath in general once the Christmas decor got packed away.
Usually, I'd have it knocked out in a day.
Two at the absolute most.
This wreath took me nearly three weeks to finish.
Because I'm lame.
And this first trimester + work + just keeping up with the house
has been enough to do me in everyday.
So this wreath took it's own sweet time to get finished.
And there were several times I nearly didn't finish it because I didn't like where it was going.
But I love how it turned out so yay!
Whew.
All that & I don't even have great tutorial pictures to share.
So I'll point you to what the wreath started out as... my original felt wreath.
It had seen it's better days and needed updating.
So I started by taking all those tiny circles off and baring it back down to the straw wreath form:
This wreath form is h.u.g.e and took forever to fill.
But here's the rundown on supplies:
*A million sheets of white felt
(Just kidding, more like 18)
*Grey & White fabric (quarter yard)
*Burlap Ribbon
*Random scraps of red, blue & burlap ribbon
*Twine
*Sewing pins
*Black Sharpie
The tutorial is basically a mix of my original felt & fabric wreath and my most recent square felt wreath.
I decided to use square pieces of felt rather than circles because it made the wreath so much fuller.
Most likely because the wreath form was so huge.
Plus circles are a pain to cut out :)
Here's my gorgeous finished product...I absolutely love the white ruffles against the fun pops of colors!!!
If you want to save a little time and add a fun pop of personality, you can do the little trick I did :)
Before pinning on all 1,546,324 squares, I cut a strip of grey & white fabric that I found at Hobby Lobby and pinned it to the inside circle of the wreath.
Just stretch it and pin as you go...the inner ring of squares you add on will cover the seam where the fabric pins to the wreath form.
It helps you save time plus I love the pop of pattern it gives it!
Once your fabric is pinned into place,
add all your felt squares.
Just cut, pin and repeat about a million times.
(Did I say a million times?? Because it really is...basically)
After it was all filled, I wanted to add some more color to it plus a little vintage.
Best of both worlds, right?
Let's talk the cute burlap banner first.
I used some wired burlap ribbon I had on hand and cut little pennant banners from it.
Then I took a black sharpie and drew lines down the centers to mimic the look of a grain-sack.
Because they make me happy in a weird way :)
Then they were glued to a piece of twine and strung across the wreath.
Pin in place.
Super easy to remove when I want to change it out!
You can leave just the burlap banner if you're wanting to stay simple & rustic.
But I wanted more color & texture.
So I added a mini rag garland.
I love that it took a bunch of my ribbon & fabric scraps.
Some were leftover from our wedding which adds the 'aww' factor to the valentine's part of the wreath :)
I pinned it onto the wreath above the burlap banner and went ahead and made another one perfect for spring so I can change them out.
(and yes, I'll share pictures of that when the time is right!)
I love how simple & texture-filled it turned out
and I love, love, love that I can change out the banners for different colors & holidays.
Make this pregnant, exhausted momma happy :)
So there we have it.
The one (& possibly only) Valentine project I've had up my sleeves so far.
Are you loving my new little (er, huge) wreath?
Anyone else severely lacking in the Valentine decor department or is it just me?
