Burlap Wreath.

I made my first Burlap Wreath this week!

And, it was so much easier than I thought it would be.

  I love the way they look, rustic and fabulous. They are simple to assemble and customize. So, I made one for my sister-in-law, as a birthday gift. After looking around on Pinterest for ideas, I headed to the store for supplies, then got to work.

What I needed:

• 5 in x 10 yd burlap x 2 rolls
• 18 in. metal wreath hoop
• 5 in x 5 yd of dyed burlap
• several short pieces of pipe cleaner
• wooden letter & acrylic paint
• hot glue gun & plenty of glue

  First, I painted the letter teal. I didn't like the color, so I repainted it black, then settled on beige.

  Next, I began making the wreath. I started by anchoring the end of the burlap to the front of the hoop, with a small piece of pipe cleaner.

  I would describe making the wreath as weaving. I wove the burlap into loops from underneath about 3 inches upward into the inner ring, then the middle ring, and then the outer ring. And, repeated the process, working my way around. I fluffed up the burlap loops as I went, to give the wreath a full, even look. The first roll of burlap went a little more than half way around the ring. I secured the end of the burlap to the hoop with another piece of pipe cleaner.

I wove up 6 loops of burlap on the hoop between each cross piece of metal.
You could weave even more loops upward to create a more voluminous wreath.

An example of the loops of burlap, coming up
from underneath the hoop.

  After I went all the way around the hoop, I tied the end down with a piece of pipe cleaner. There was about 1 1/2 yards of burlap left over.

This is the basic burlap wreath.

  Then, I added some dyed burlap to the front of the wreath. I attached the dyed burlap to the center of the metal hoop every 3 to 4 inches, all the way around.

Fastening the dyed burlap to the metal hoop
with pipe cleaner.

   Using the left over pieces of burlap, I created two bows for decoration. First a burlap one, then a slightly smaller one made from the dyed burlap.

 The photo on the left is the best example I have of how I made my bows. I laid the burlap just like that dyed burlap, and squeezed the center together with a piece of pipe cleaner.

 For more information about making bows like
these, lots of great tutorials can be found on Pinterest.

  I placed the dyed burlap bow on top of the burlap bow, and wrapped a small piece of the dyed burlap around both, securing it with piece of pipe cleaner. I finished the bows off by giving the tails angled "v" cuts.









  Lastly, I hot glued both the finished bow and the letter 'G' to the wreath. I used a LOT of hot glue to keep them in place.

And, that's it.

I spent the better part of an afternoon working on this wreath.

A labor of love!

Burlap wreaths are so delightful and versatile. I'll be making one for myself next!

Teacher's Flower Pot.

  With the school year quickly coming to a close, we decided it would be nice to give my daughter's Pre-K teacher & teacher's aide some little 'End of the Year' gifts. I remembered a cute gift that my sister-in-law had made for her daughter's teacher last year, and thought I'd give it a try (I get a lot of good ideas from her, she's super crafty.)

  I'm calling it the 'Teacher's Flower Pot.' It's basically a decorated flower pot with the saying, 'Thank you for helping me grow,' on the side of it. The pot itself can be decorated in any way, and the saying could be written or painted on, or even spelled out in stickers. But, I modeled my flower pot from a Pinterest idea similar to the one that my sister-in-law used.

Supply list:

• Black chalkboard paint
• Yellow acrylic paint
• Terra cotta flower pot, approx. 6" in diameter
• Soil & a plant
• a Marker
• a piece of Chalk
• Tape measure or ruler (optional)

  My daughter painted the upper rims yellow, on the inside and outside. Then, she painted the bottom outsides black, and I touched them up.
 
                                           

     
 
 Using a black Sharpie, I marked off 19 inches around the upper rims, while holding up a tape measure. My marks weren't precise. If you did want the marks to be exact inches, 1/2 inches, etc., you could tape a sewing tape measure around the pot, just below the top of the rim and make your marks.

   I wrote 'Thank you for helping me Grow!' on the side of each pot with chalk.

  Finally, we added some soil, a couple small petunia plants, and some more soil, to both pots.

  My little girl was so happy when she gave them to her teachers on the last day of school! She had a really great school year, and her teacher and teacher's aide were a big part of that. I also gave them thank you cards with a picture of my daughter and a gift card. 

Hope you enjoy this craft as much as we have!