Sunday, January 27, 2013

Black & White & Red All Over

What is black and white and red all over?  My Valentine's Day wreath is.  It can even be read because I made the hearts and flower out of book pages. 


Supplies:
12-inch straw wreath
3/4 yard of red taffeta, cut into 3 inch strips
stick pins
1/8 yard of contrasting fabric
Vintage book pages
scrabble tiles (I printed mine from a resource on Pinterest here)
pencil
scissors 
tape
glue

Here is how you can make one too.  First take the strips of taffeta and wrap the straw wreath.  I pinned each strip in place at the back of the wreath.  This is the beauty of a straw wreath, you can pin and disassemble later to make another wreath. 

Then make the hanger with the contrasting fabric.  I first cut the fabric into a 3 inch strip.  Then  loop it around the top of the wreath and tie a knot in it.  The fabric I used doesn't ravel.  If you pick a fabric that does ravel you will need to sew or glue a hem down each side of the strip before this step.

To make the hearts I hand drew a heart and cut out the four hearts from a vintage book.  I glued the four hearts on the wreath where I liked them.  I copied the scrabble tiles from the craft resource above and glued them onto each heart.  I hand drew the flower spiral on another book page.  I found this also on Pinterest here.

Cut the spiral design out.

This is the tricky part.  You start from the center and roll this spiral design up to create the flower.  I tried to loosen the flower up by taping the bottom as I rolled it.  In taping it you can stabilize the part you have rolled up and keep rolling.  My flowers always look a little uptight. I just keep working with the flower until it looks like I want it to.
I placed my flower on another flower base and pinned it in place.  I thought it looked like a daffodil.  I hand drew all my patterns, I am not a perfectionist so if it was a little uneven I thought it just added to the character of the design.   That is the fun of making your own wreath it doesn't look like anything in the stores.  Time to bring out the romance for Valentine's Day, it is right around the corner.  
Sherry
I will join:
Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House
Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper
Sunny Simple Sundays  at Sunny Simple Life
Share Your Cup Thursday  at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Cowgirl Up Party at Cedar Hill Ranch 
Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House
Strut Your Stuff Saturday at Six Sisters Stuff 

16 comments:

Lynda Bergman Decorative Artisan said...

I like that spiral!! Very nice Valentine wreath! Lynda

Debbie-Dabble Blog and A Debbie-Dabble Christmas said...

Sherry,
Really super cute!!

Hugs,
Debbie

Anonymous said...

Love love love it! Pinning it to my Pinterest with link back to your blog.

Mary

Micupoftea said...

Festive and sweet :)

Ricki Treleaven said...

Sherry, I love the black and white fabric hanger. This is a great-looking wreath!

xo,
RJ

Cindy @ Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home said...

So very sweet, love your little flower! :)

Something Nice and Pretty said...

Very adorable! I'm pinning this to my wreath board, thanks for sharing!

Magali@TheLittleWhiteHouse said...

It's a really cute wreath.

Liz@ HomeandGardeningWithLiz said...

How cute! The hearts and flower made out of the book paper are so cute!

JP said...

Very cute idea, Sherry....I really like the scrabble cut outs, too1

Cynthia said...

Great wreath I love the ribbon you used for hanging.

Cynthia

Katarina said...

A lovely wreath, Sherry! :-) Such a cute flower!

Debra at HOMESPUN: http://www.thehomespun.com said...

Lovely! : )

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson said...

Sherry, I love that your red wreath can be read! I have not tried making any of those flowers but have wanted to. Thanks for sharing the great tutorial with SYC. I am doing a 'Showing a little love" challenge post each day from now until Valentines. Each day I feature a few Valentine links. I will feature this sometime and let you know when.
hugs,
Jann

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson said...

Hi Sherry,
I am featuring you at my 'Showing a Little Love' challenge today.
hugs,
Jann

Unknown said...

So pretty, love the red of the fabric and it looks great with the hearts.
Hugs, Lynnie