Muslin Wreath

Completed Muslin Wreath

Over the recent Thanksgiving weekend, my daughter, daughter-in-law and I gathered supplies for wreath making. While my daughter-in-law chose one type of wreath, my daughter and I decided to make muslin wreaths based on something we'd seen on Pinterest. (Where did we get ideas before Pinterest??) After a trip to Hobby Lobby, we had our supplies (I had plenty of muslin at home).

This involved copious amounts of torn muslin strips tied onto a wire wreath form. The wire forms had an inner and outer ring, and for full coverage the strips needed to be packed in as tightly as possible. Our dining room floor quickly became littered with threads as the sounds of ripping resounded. I don't know why we didn't think to do this in front of the tv while watching a Christmas movie! It took the better part of two afternoons to get all that fabric tied on, and at times we despaired that it would ever look good. We hung in there, though, and were rewarded with our results.

The original pin from Pinterest we used for inspiration had small rolled fabric roses attached to the wreath, but I had in mind a burlap poinsettia. I looked online at photos and video tutorials, and came up with a modified version of my own. I freehand drew a couple of leaf shapes, one larger than the other, and cut several pieces of both sizes from burlap. After all the cutting was done (boy, is burlap messy!), I coated the top sides of each leaf with Liquitex Iridescent Medium using a sponge brush. This is one of my favorite products, as it imparts a beautiful gleam when brushed on. As an acrylic medium, it can also be combined with paint to create shimmering colors. To protect my work surface, I used a non-stick craft sheet which cleans up nicely.

While the leaves were still damp, I made a crease down the center of each to give them some shape. I also cut a small circle from burlap for the center of the flower; this I glued to a couple of layers of paper to give it some body. When everything was dry, I arranged the pieces to try the effect, and used a hot glue gun to put it all together. I ended up with a flower that had three layers; the larger leaves formed the bottom layer and the smaller leaves became the top two layers. Then I used Ranger's Ice Stickles in Silver, Gold and Crystal Ice to edge each leaf, applying one color per layer of flower. I poked a hole in my flower center to accommodate  a jeweled button I'd picked up on our shopping trip. If I'd thought it through (not my strong suit), I would have threaded wire through the button shank to attach everything to the wreath. Since I didn't think of that in time, I had to figure that out later.

After the poinsettia was finished, I hot glued a couple of white berry picks (Hobby Lobby again) to the back as well as a couple of glittered snowflakes I got at Walmart. I cut a square of heavy cotton batting to glue to the back to hold the wire in place, and attached the whole thing to the wreath. The last detail was to make a wire hanger for the top. It's hanging over the fireplace now, and I really like the way it looks against the brick. Here's a close-up of the poinsettia.

Happy crafting!

Immi