Christmas Tulle Wreath

I know, I know. I just did a tulle wreath...where is the quilting stuff?? I'm sorry to disappoint, but right now I am on a tulle kick. In fact, it is getting close to an addiction. If you have ever created a tulle wreath you know that the calmness it can provide by wrapping little pieces of fabric around foam...well...there's nothing like it. Sometimes I find that wrapping a piece of that beloved fabric almost takes me to a state of Nirvana. Sorry about these comments...I am not as completely freaky as I am coming off to be right now. However, I think a completely normal person would find tulle wreaths to be very fun and an entertaining past time. Ok, so here is my first tulle christmas wreath. Yes, you read me right. There is currently one more christmas tulle wreath in the making.

So, overall, I am pretty happy with my color choices. Except I kinda feel the little .49 cent gingerbread house sits lonely on the wreath. It may look better if it was sitting in a round of tulle and then glued onto the wreath. What do you think? I do love the color choice. I believe they hid the green foam wreath beautifully, which makes me happy because I didn't have to paint the foam or round it with ribbon before starting the tulle wrapping process.

Also, another great idea, which came from my mother, was to use the left over tulle material and braid it. Then pin the ends of the braid to the back of the wreath, making for a very convenient hanger.

Material needed:
3 rolls of tulle (6 in. wide, 25 feet long...you'll have a little extra for future tulle projects)
1 16 in. foam wreath
1 wooden embellishment or anything of your choosing
Glue (I just used plain Elmer's glue to glue my gingerbread house and it seems to be sticking)
Straight pins (pin the back of the braided tulle to the wreath)

The Tulle Wreath

I decided to make my sisters some tulle wreaths (just a fun little gift to tell them I loved them). There are so many different ways to create them. If you go on pinterest, or etsy you'll see the variety. However, I decided to do mine the traditional way. I chose the colors teal, black and white to go with the the color scheme of my sister's room and included a hanging letter initial in the middle. Of course, you could attach the letter to the wreath itself using some hot glue. 

I used about 16in. long strands of each color to wrap around a 14in. foam wreath. If you use lighter color tulle you will need to paint the foam the corresponding color of the tulle (lighter color tulle will reflect the the color of the foam you wrap the fabric around). I chose a four inch wooden letter and painted it with teal craft paint. I also chose to use some black and silver bling embellishments over my wooden letter. Who doesn't love some sparkle?? I screwed in a metal eye hook to the top of the letter and hung the letter from leftover tulle fabric, tying it to the top of the wreath. 

What you will need:
A wooden letter 4 in. (they are super cheap, like only two dollars a piece)
Some craft paint
3 rolls of tulle (25 ft. and 6 in. wide.) 
14 in. foam wreath
Eye hook

I would highly suggest buying the tulle from Fabric.com. They have rolls for around three dollars and the rolls are a life saver. Trying to cut tulle is the hardest part and since the roles are 6 inches wide you only have to cut length ways. 

Variation on the Bag Wreath

The paper bag wreath, sometimes called the newspaper wreath, is a cost-efficient and fun craft for any season. The idea is to use recycled paper in your home and create a masterpiece that is environmentally friendly. I was not so eco-conscience in my creation, using some store bought Christmas paper. However, it was a money saving creation. I only needed one pack of 24 sheets of paper and, happily, the paper was on sale.

The only thing needed for this project is the following:

24-40 sheets of sorted paper (the thinner the sheets the better)

Scallop circle punch (2.5 inches)

Box of assorted straight pins (around 50)

14 in. foam wreath

Ribbon (for hanging)

In order to make the rose petals you need only stamp out the circles and use the end of a dull pencil, folding the circle around the pencil until several creases are formed. Then, using the straight pins, stick a pin in the center of each pre-made circle and stick into the foam. Some people also use a hot glue gun for this process, but I find that if you hate where you place a scalloped circle you can easily remove a pin and repeat the process (glue is a little too permanent for me). Just make sure to use thin paper, because the thicker the paper the harder to fold and the more difficult to squeeze each circle next to each other. I then pinned the ribbon to the top of the wreath for an easy hanging design.

The whole process should take you around two hours! In the end you have a fun and budget-friendly decoration.