Yarn Wreath, Part 1

I was inspired to make my own yarn wreath by the great selection on Etsy, especially the ones created by KnockKnocking.  I love her whimsical style and funky colors!

I found a great tutorial at The Constant Gatherer and got to work.  I bought a straw wreath and some pretty holiday yarn and set to work.  I wrapped mine first with batting but skipped the tulle.  Then I started wrapping with yarn.  I used a red and green mix with gold thread running through it.  It is soft and has lots of great texture.  It took maybe 2/3 of the skein to finish wrapping the wreath.

Once I was done wrapping with the yarn, it was time to dress it up!  I made these cute little ruffle flowers from white felt by cutting 1/2 strip length-wise.  

I ran a basting thread near the bottom and pulled to create a ruffle, then curled it around on itself.  I secured the edges with a little hot glue. I grouped 3 of them together on the bottom left of the wreath.

I added a faceted red plastic bead to the centers of the flowers (also with hot glue), then glued a pretty little red bird and some greenery to the top of them, creating the focal point for my wreath.

 

I made a simple bow from some of the yarn and glued that to the top of the wreath, finishing it off with another white felt flower.

 

It took about an hour to wrap the wreath and maybe another hour to decorate it.  I love the way it turned out!  Festive, old-fashioned, but stylish.  And I had a great time making it.  In fact, I loved making it so much that I whipped up another one tonight.  I'm not quite done with that one, but I'll post pictures once I finish.