Hi Guys, can you believe that it’s already November and thoughts of Christmas are entering into our brains!? I’m usually a last minute kind of girl, but I wanted to share some projects this year with you and I’m hoping that by preparing so early… I’ll be ready for the big day.
HAHAHA! I know myself pretty well and that last sentence just made me laugh out loud, one can hope though, right?
I’m participating in another blog hop with some wonderful Canadian bloggy friends, we are sharing 18 DIY Christmas wreaths for your inspiration. I will be showing you how I made this DIY rustic Christmas wreath, I sure hope you like it.
Before I start with the how-to of the DIY portion, I’d like you to know that not everything turns out exactly like I think it will while DIYing and blogging about it… take this little DIY rustic Christmas wreath for example. I had a bit of a different concept in mind when I saw these beautiful clementines in the grocery store.
The deep green stopped me in my tracks while rushing around gathering my groceries… I may have aggressively grabbed the clementines hoping to have a few extra fist fulls of those gorgeous leaves. So lush and vibrant!
I brought all of the groceries home and forgot about my little bag of yum until I needed to make my wreath.
Imagine my surprise when I opened the bag of clementines to find the dried up and shrivelled leaves, yikes I nearly panicked!
I decided to iron the leaves before I completely had to scrap this project. As you can probably guess… my well laid plans to make a beautiful wreath out of all of the dark green leaves became a wreath with some of these leaves, I just didn’t have forever to iron all of the leaves.
Thank-goodness they were useable… not exactly like I imagined, but I kind of like the way this little wreath ended up turning out and lesson learned… press any and all leaves under a heavy book. Alrighty then… on to the how-to portion of this project, it’s super easy.
The things I used:
Antique stroller wheel
Clementines with leaves attached (don’t forget to dry the leaves under a press or a heavy book)
Vintage sheet music (cut leaves out of the sheet music the same size and shape as the dried leaves, varying in size)
Jute
Glue gun and glue
Tiny red styrofoam balls (dollar store)
1. Wrap wheel in jute – I wanted to avoid glueing anything directly to the wheel as I use this in my decor all year long, when Christmas is over I’ll just snip the jute away and have the plain rustic wheel again.
2. Make faux “holly”, glue the dried leaves together similar to holly leaves and add sheet music as shown above (cut sheet music to match general size of dried leaves – vary sizes) glue them all together.
3. Glue red styrofoam balls in the center of faux holly (see photo above).
4. Glue the whole thing onto the jute wrapped wheel.
5. Continue until you like the look of your wreath. I glued some of the faux holly leave pieces behind the wheel too, that added a nice depth.
I stopped when I was happy with how it all looked. I like the fact that it’s so simple and rustic, the other thing I like about this little wreath is that I can move it where ever I’d like. Right now it’s hanging on our barn wood blanket ladder, adding just a small touch of Christmas.
Be sure to visit each of these awesome blogs for some unique ideas and inspiration, make your very own Christmas wreath.
Check out the 17 other fabulous wreaths by visiting the links below.
Thank-you for stopping by, until next time…
33 Comments
I love it! Ingeniuous using the stroller wheel! I thought initially that it was a wagon wheel and wondered how the heck you were going to hang it.
hahaha a wagon wheel would have been rough to hang, but I would have found a way! 😉 Thanks for stopping over and for the wreath love! xo
That turned out really pretty Laurie!! I would have never thought to iron out those leaves, very clever. I like the jute wrapped part, altogether very beautiful!
Thanks Heather, I may have used this trick before! 😉 I use my iron, just not like most people do. hahaha. I’m glad you like the way it turned out! xo
I always look forward to seeing what you create from the vintage/antique items that you collect. As a matter of fact I am in awe of your ability to use old and design it into something new. This rustic Christmas wreath does not disappoint! It looks perfect with the blanket vignette you created!
Awwww, thanks Thea, that is so sweet of you to say. It most definitely is something I love doing, I’m glad it’s successful, most of the time. It’s a real pleasure being in this hop with you, it’s been so fun to see all of the different ways to make a wreath. xo
Ooh I like it a lot, very clever and original, now I want an antique wheel.
Thanks Alison! I’m always on the lookout for these wheels, they just go everywhere! 😉
So clever to iron out the leaves!! This turned out just beautifully – really unique. And I’m with you on things throwing you a curveball along the way when you’re elbows-deep in a project. 🙂
lol I’m glad you get me Lindsay, for most people dried up leaves wouldn’t make them panic… but since I was so busy and pressed for time I did not have the time to go get more and dry them properly and I may have used this trick a time or two in the past. I’m glad you like the little wreath. 🙂
I love this wreath so much, Laurie! The leaves turned out great – such a fantastic idea. As always, your combo of vintage with new is perfect!
Thank-you, Christina! I’m really happy you like it, I’m so glad there is vintage stuff in this world, not sure what I’d do without. 😉
This wreath is just so clever! It turned out beautifully.
Thanks Colleen!
Ironing your leaves?? I had to laugh – very creative 🙂 It was well worth it since it turned out just adorable. And I love your wheel!
Hahahahaha, right? I’m a nut bar sometimes! I ironed a whole pkg of leaves one time for a client’s garland, it turned out beautifully, but man it took forever! Again, I’m nuts, but the project was stunning and the time worth it! This scale of ironing, pffft no biggy. lol I’m glad you like the way it turned out, I’m pretty happy with it too.
OMG Laurie! You just took things to a new level!!! The ironing!!!! So impressed – that OCD even overrides mine!!! Looks great!
Meagan
LOL, I never thought of myself as having OCD, but ya, now that you say that I may have a touch of it! I won’t tell you then that this may or may not have been the first time I’ve ironed leaves! Haha, that’s funny!
who knew you could iron leaves. I think it turned so cute.
Yep you can, and thanks! 🙂
I love a problem solver, nice one, and the wreath looks great.
HA, yep that’s me for sure! Backed into a corner I will iron my way out! 😉 Thanks, I’m glad you like the wreath.
I might be a bit jealous of your stash of vintage stuff! That stroller wheel is darling, I love how you pulled all your elements together (even ironing the leaves, I totally get that!) and I am now hanging one of my wreaths on my ladder! (which is not vintage, but whatever…) 🙂 Thanks for sharing! Pinned.
xo
I’m so glad you get me! I adore vintage/antique stuff… too much some would say. But I gotta be me! I’m glad you are hanging one of those darling wreaths on a ladder… vintage or not, I bet that looks so cute!
This is gorgeous! Well done 🙂
Thanks Ariel! 🙂
This is so wonderfully creative! Love that you used a wheel for the base – if I had one, I would copy you in a heartbeat!
Thanks Lindi! You’ll have to keep your eyes open for a wheel of your own. 🙂 Thanks for stopping in. xo
Look at you going all Suzy Homaker in a Laurie way and ironing your leaves – did you follow the laundry directions tag on the back to see what you should set your iron at or just wing it? lol Yrs ago I used to cringe at seeing Christmas stuff already but now that Halloween and Thanksgiving are over for us plus the 2 inches of snow we got in the last 24 hrs in SK it is perfect timing to hibernate and get busy with some cheerful Christmas decorations. I don’t have a cute stroller wheel like yours but have a smaller 2 ft wagon wheel that I have been thinking about decorating and you have inspired me to go roll it in from the snow and get going on it. I divorced myself from my iron many years ago and we are still not even on speaking terms so would likely have to go with some wash and wear pine garland but love the jute, berries and sheet music … you got my wheels turning in more way than one! lol
Winging it is the way I do 90% of what I do. 😉 You caught me! I don’t use my iron like most people… I leave that to the guys in my house, something about work shirts needing to be wrinkle free… I say, “that’s what the drier is for.” SO, flattening leaves when they decided to shrivel and die = perfect use of a house hold appliance, no? SNOW already, yikes! Yep, time to get your Christmas mojo on. This Christmas stuff is super early for me too… but if I want to get anything done, I gotta get it done early or run out of time. SO many ideas so little time! 😉 Last year our tree was up on Dec 12th, Christmas seemed like a vacation last year, so much time to just sit back and enjoy! Good luck with your mini wagon wheel, I’d love to see what you’ve created! Again, thanks for the best comment EVER! xo
This is an adorable repurpose! I love love love this!!
Great idea Laurie!
I just LOVE the name of your blog!
Thank you so much! 🙂