Simple Ruffle Wreath

I just love to read about all the creative wreaths people come up with all year round.  Up until now, I’ve never attempted one myself.  (Well, except that time I made one out of real greenery.  If I remember correctly, it turned out quite ugly.)

As I was working on our entryway decor, I realized I needed something to fill up some empty space.  I’ve never decorated with this color scheme before, so I needed to think outside all the “normal” things I had in my stash.

I decided to try a wreath.

The problem was, I didn’t have a wreath form.

I also wasn’t planning to go to town soon.  “Town” for me means a $25 ferry ride and at least 2 hours of my time.  It seemed silly to go through all that to try to find a wreath form in the Dollar Store!!:)

So, I started digging around for anything at all that might work.

Hang on to your horses, this first picture is really, really ugly~

There she is!  My wreath form.  Isn’t it pretty??  I’m not even quite sure what it is.  It’s some kind of foam insulationy thing you put over your pipes. (It can be found in lengths at the hardware store.)  I straightened out a hanger, ran it through the tube, twisted it together, and tucked it in one end.  Then I got into my son’s duct tape stash (Thanks, Brad!) and taped it together.  The hanger holds the “shape”, but the tube was sort of squashed in places.

So, I wrapped it in a length of 2 inch wide canvas drop cloth.

There, it’s already starting to look better…

I laid a long strip of fabric on the top of my now covered form, and pleated it like a ruffle.  Where each pleat folded in, I tacked it with a thumbtack.

Then I smoothed it over to cover the tacks.

Once I was finished, I held it up and added tacks strategically (underneath) where some of the ruffles wanted to flop down.

My sister-in-law showed me how to make  neat music sheet ornaments this summer. (I’ll get to that tutorial later.)  I pinned them on with stick pins.

and covered up the stick pins with a sparkly center.

A ribbon on the top became the hanger.

I think some fabric flowers would also be a nice option for this wreath if you didn’t have any paper ornaments around.

Now I just need to find a few more sparkly, silver, gray, or white things to finish up my entryway…

Linking to:  The Shabby Creek Cottage, The Creative Spark, Chic on a Shoestring