Homemade Wreaths

Hey guys so Autumn is coming and that means Thanksgiving!!!  I absolutely love fall colors and weather.  So in light of the changing seasons I have started putting together some more fall appropriate crafts for all you crafty souls, and parents of craft loving kids. The first is a homemade wreath. You can make these with leaves, pinecones, small sticks, walnuts, and pretty much anything else you find in nature. For this, due to the chemicals in the spray paint and the hot glue guns please work with a parent or responsible adult.

Step 1 is going out and collecting these items. Yes of course you can go to Michaels or other crafts stores and buy these items, but getting to take a long hike where your kids are engaged in finding “treasures” and hand picking your wreath parts makes the wreaths that much more personal.

            A quick side note is to make sure that if you are collecting pinecones or sticks, make sure they are dry in order to minimize any kind of molding or deteriorating. If you are getting leaves though, you want to make sure that they are still green, and are not falling apart with dryness.

 

Step 2 is to spray paint your “treasures”. So pick out some fun fall colored spray paint and spray your findings in whatever colors you like. I put down newspaper as a table cloth (you can use gloves to protect my hands from being painted as well as a facemask to minimizes the chemicals being breathed in) and then spray an even coat of paint to the item and then lay it out on another sheet of newspaper in order to dry for at least 4-5 hours.

            Side note: if you are painting leaves, then let them fully dry and then set aside in a book and press for 3-4 days.

Step 3- grab your glue gun, your painted items, and your wreath rings. It’s time to put it all together. Set up a new newspaper table cloth, and then set your pinecones, sticks or base wreath items out around the wreath ring and applying ample amounts of glue, stick them to your wreath. Then take your leaves, walnuts, or other more frilly, or fun items, and glue them on as well. Then let the glue dry and your items set which should take about 4-5 hours.

 

Step 4-  This is the Glitter Step!!! So once your wreath is dry enough to move it to an upright position, tape a piece of newspaper on the back-side of the wreath and using a glitter spray paint to glitter-fy the wreath. Then remove the newspaper from the back side and allow your wreath to dry completely before hanging in your house or on your front door.

As a side note, try to hang your wreath indoors, and out of too much sunlight, because otherwise the wreath will break down faster.

Here are some of the wreaths that my daughter and I have created: