Monday, August 4, 2014

THE IN BETWEEN TIME WREATH

Having lived in California all of my life until twelve years ago, I never had much experience with four real seasons.  In the hot valleys of California it can still be very warm at Thanksgiving some years.  I moved first to Colorado and then Idaho and I love the four seasons and we have what I call the in between time - after July till September. September is the start of fall - it's like the switch gets flipped and it's fall.  This in between time for me is sunflowers, days a little shorter, sky is looking a little different, weather a little cooler, etc. So I am changing up my front wreath and bench for the in between time.  I Pinned a wreath like this several months ago with the plan to make my version. I had never seen a wreath with a piece of art tucked inside before.
So I first moseyed over to The Graphic's Fairy for my rooster (I will put a link below) pulled him into Corel Draw, named him Le Coq (the rooster), flipped him (remember you do not need a draw program to flip an image, just go to your Microsoft paint program that comes will all Windows) copy and paste the image and at the top you will see "rotate." Please feel free to print out this image (there is a button on the side "print/pdf"). I added the frames, etc.  I printed him out on canvas and then cut a piece of foam board the same size and glued him to the foam board without taking the paper off the back.  I then sprayed him several times with clear coat finish because even though he will be under a covered porch it's still out in the weather.
Another item I needed was a rustic star but I did not want the brown color.  Using water based acrylic I painted the star (it needed two coats) when completely dry I took a little dark wax to age it a little, done.

Here is what is needed for the wreath (ignore the sunflower towels) with the exception of the apples - they were way too heavy so I found some much smaller ones.  For some reason pomegranates were hard to find in my area so I only had one. I used two wreaths - a stick one and then a small grapevine wreath.
First thing to do is to cut all of the flowers and greenery off of the center stems, leaving a long enough stem on what you cut off so that you can either hot glue or just stick into the wreath.
Lay the stick wreath on a flat surface and then hot glue the grapevine wreath to the stick one and let it completely dry.
First glue Le Coq to the wreath with hot glue. Now you are ready to start putting it together - Starting with the greenery and leaves go around the wreath until it looks like you have equal distribution.

Now it's time to add the flowers and the fruit and add the big bow.  I like to use a pipe cleaner instead of wire for the bow as I think it is easier to work with and kinder to your fingers and easy to attach to the wreath.  If you have holes in your wreath you can fill them with extra leaves or I like to use the leafy boxwood too.

Tip #1: When making a wreath be sure and as you work hang it up so you can see how it looks being hung up because many times it may look great on a work table but the angle of the items may not work when the wreath is hung so save yourself some time by periodically hanging the wreath.  I have a hook on the back of my craft room door.

Tip #2: When you are making something like this (a wreath that I saw on Pinterest) don't try and make an exact copy, make it your own, use the example for inspiration only, or you might end up like a bad Elvis impersonator who wants to look like Elvis but really looks like Ernest Borgnine!

List of greenery & fruit used:

Twig wreath
Grapevine wreath
Boxwood greenery
Picks of little sunflowers and red flowers with green berries
(1) Plastic Artichoke
(1) Plastic Pomegranate
Plastic apples
Red Poppies
Fall pick that had big leaves and faux feathers
Sunflowers, two large, 3 medium
Small berry stems, green
Large berry stems, beige
 New and IMPROVED wreath. Truth in advertizing friends. This morning (8/8) I went out on my porch to check on the newly planted mums and to my horror only the twig wreath was still on the wall and the grapevine wreath had face planted on the porch! So I did what I should have done in the first place - I wired the two wreaths together instead of hot gluing them.  This one will not come apart so....if  you make one of these don't hot glue the two wreaths together. j.


Resource

Liquitex Acrylic paint, Yellow Oxide, Michael's
Rustic Barn Star, online, Google " Rustic Barn Stars Two Sided Primitive Country Barn Star" and you will find a star to order.
Greenery and fruit, Michael's & local craft store
Wreath's, Hobby Lobby & Michael's
Ribbon, Costco (it is gingham off white and red, wired)
Dark Wax, Annie Sloan
Rooster Graphic, The Graphic's Fairy, Link 
Foam board, Dollar Tree

Thank you for stopping by. 

9 comments:

  1. ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF YOUR OOOOOOO SOOOOOOOO MANY WONDERFUL TALENTS, PROOF, THE OUTSTANDING WORKS YOU POST.

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  2. Thank you for your kind words. This was a fun & fulfilling project. j.

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  3. OMG, I'm sooo glad I found your blog! You are fantastic, love the place, so much inspiration and information, I'm so excited! Did I use enough exclamation points?! I've got plenty more where that came from~~Denise

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  4. Denise you made my day! Thank you for your sweet comments, so appreciated. Blogging can be a very solitary pursuit and if you don't hear from viewers you don't really know if what you are doing is of interest to anyone. I just plug along here and post things that I think people might find interesting or informative. If you make the wreath please send me a photo. As I mentioned I saw one like this on Pinterest and just knew I would be making my version at sometime - it makes me smile when I see it by my front door. Thank you again, j.

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  5. Thank you LeAnne, appreciate your kind comment. This was a fun project and the first time I have added a little art work to a wreath - I'm thinking a bunny might be cute for an Easter wreath. Thank you so much for stopping by. jj

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  6. Hi JoJo!
    Just found you but am a follower now!! I LOVE your wreath! Heading out tomorrow to gather and hunt for my supplies to try and replicate your beautiful wreath....Do you know what size wreaths they are?
    Have a wonderful day!

    Lois

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    1. Lois thank you so much for your kind words! I loved making this wreath and am getting ready to take it down for a Halloween wreath - sort of don't want to take it down. I think the outside wreath is 24" and the inside one is 14" - I just measured them and that is an approximate - I think you just need to be able to be able to attach the two together. I don't know if you read the bottom or not but I first hot glued them together - don't do that - after I had to put it back together I wired them together. I have not posted much and hope to get back on track soon. My dear hubby had surgery and I have been dedicated to him. Thank you again and send me a photo of your finished product. Thank you for joining. Happy fall. j.

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  7. Thanks Jojo! I did read the bottom! I did something similar.......came out the front door and couldn't believe my eyes! lol! I too have not posted much in the last week, sometimes I just get "Bloggers Block"! but will be back on track this weekend.....hope all is well with your husband....
    Will send a photo! wish me luck!
    L's.....

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