Deco Mesh Wreaths!!

Wow! It has been two years since my last post! I've graduated college since then (Boomer Sooner!), and am working full time in a diagnostic laboratory.  However, since I no longer have to study for tests, I feel like I have more free time to craft! Here are some instructions for making the huge bubbly deco mesh wreaths for Christmas, Thanksgiving, or any other occasion. (I made these several weeks ago, so I apologize for not having better step by step pictures).

My favorite!

Frosty

Santa (decided to go big or go home with the "Merry Christmas")

Frozen Christmas

Fall, Thanksgiving

Materials:

wire wreath frame (mine are around 20")
pipe cleaners (or any type of wire or twist tie)
deco mesh (21" width)
decorations (ribbon, flowers, ornaments, etc)

Instructions:

Using your pipe cleaner, tie the end of the deco mesh roll on the inner ring of the wire frame.  Bunch some of the ribbon up and use another pipe cleaner to tie it to the inner wire, continuing until you reach your starting point.  Spacing the ties further apart makes a larger more bubbly wreath.  Closely spaced ties make less voluminous wreaths.

Once you reach the starting point, tie the ribbon to the outer rim of the wire frame and repeat the same process.  Since I use long pipe cleaners, I just stick the upper half of the pipe cleaner through the space between the first and second rim and loop it around the outside of the frame to tie the ribbon.

If the wreath isn't full enough to my liking, I'll do a third layer of wraps using the same process.

Once my base is complete, I'll wrap ribbons around it using the same technique (and same pipe cleaner if there is enough left over).

Once ribbons are added, I'll add bows, flowers, and ornaments until I'm satisfied with the results.
I generally use strings (the kind that come with ornaments) or wire (pipe cleaners) to tie my decorations on so that I can change them out if I ever want to.  Some things, like on the thanksgiving wreath above, I hot glued on (pumpkins, leaves, cross, etc).  This makes it more permanent, so I cant reuse the base and change out decorations.

Alice in Wonderland

 

I found the trinkets at hobby lobby, and used glow in the dark paint to outline a print out of the Cheshire Cat.

And there you go! You can make a beautiful wreath for just about any occasion (or no occasion at all)! If you have any questions about this or any of the wreaths on my page feel free to ask =)

Happy Crafting!
Adrienne J