Week 22 Craft: Patriotic Wreath

When I was young one of my favorite toys was the "flatsy" doll.  Don't know why, but I was fascinated by the idea of the flat profile.  

So, flatsy's were the inspiration for this week's craft project - a patriotic wreath.

Here's what you need:

Four 2" styrofoam balls

1/2 yard of white flannel

1/4 yard of blue fabric of your choice

1/4 yard of red fabric of your choice

1/4 yard of navy flannel

9" flat floral craft ring (I got mine at Michaels)

Glue gun

Wire for hanging wreath

Needle and thread

Start by cutting your styrofoam balls in half.  Take some strong thread, wrap it around the ball at the mid point and pull tight; it's easier and less messy than using a knife.

Cut your blue and red fabrics into 1/2" strips.  Make sure you cut them across the width of the fabric so the strips are at least 45" long.

Wrap the fabric around the balls making sure you cover all the styrofoam and tack the end in place with a dot of glue from your glue gun.  I made four of each color.

Cut Your white flannel into 4" by 24" pieces.  Fold the pieces in half long ways and run a gathering stitch close to the raw edge - but don't pull the gather tight.  with sharp scissors cut strips that come close to the gather stitches; my cuts are about 1/3" wide.  

Make sure your fabric doesn't turn (I lay mine on a flat surface) and slowly pull the gathering thread.

Take your time doing this.  There is nothing more frustrating than getting everything halfway tightened up and having your thread break.  Probably good advice for plastic surgeons as well....

Thread your needle through the other end forming your loop.  I usually run the needle through multiple layers before tying off the thread.  Voila!  Flower petals.

Next glue your fabric covered ball to the flower petal base.  Feel free to fluff your petals.

I think these would be so cute glued to small dowels (or straws) and put into a flower pot!

Cut two strips of your navy flannel 6" by 24" and sew the short ends together.  

Run a gather stitch in the middle of this strip and pull until it fits the wreath form.  At this point I ran my flannel strip through a wash to get a rough edge.

My wreath had holes spaced evenly around.  I used these holes to run some wire through to make a hanging loop; I also used them as a guide to place my flowers.

Glue the flannel to the wreath form using your gather stitch as a guide to find the middle.  Make sure you glue securely so your fabric doesn't sag when you glue your flowers to it.

Time to glue on your flowers!  Don't worry if your wreath doesn't have holes, eight flowers pretty much match end to end on the wreath form.

Time to hang it on your door.  It's a nice, full wreath, but has a nice and low profile.