My First Creative Endeavor

I am not lying when I say I am not an arts and crafts person whatsoever. Seriously, I do not have the patience. Then I became a homemaker and a mother. Now, I am convinced Pinterest has done just as much harm to us as good. Think about the bar it has set for our homes, kids' birthday parties, and daily attire. I applaud the woman who can keep up. I'm simply not one of those. And I have no desire to play keeping-up-with-the-Pinterest Joneses. 

However, after a recent evening of reviewing how much money Etsy shop owners have manged to swindle rob me of charge me on past transactions, I thought to myself, "Now surely I can do some of that?!?" So, I started with a wreath, something my mom has always told me is actually very easy. I used my little girl's upcoming birthday party as an excuse, and got to working. Since I was pretty proud of the result, I posted it to Facebook. Holy "like"/comments/PMs/texts/shared posts Batman! I was very flattered so many liked my first attempt at anything craftsy, and surprised at how many wanted to know how I made it.

So here's my thought, since I plan to continue trying my hand at more of this stuff- I'll post about it. Now, as a professional thief teacher, I am not against using others' ideas and incorporating them into my own creations. As an English teacher, though, I am adamant that if you use ideas that are not yours, you credit that source. So I intend to do just that with these posts. Any video/blog/shop that I get ideas from, I'll be posting their info as well. :)

So without any further adieu, here's what I did to create my wreath.

Supplies:
-3 rolls of chevron burlap ribbon, 15ft each (Hobby Lobby)
-1 roll pink burlap ribbon (Hobby Lobby)
-Wire wreath frame
-Burlap flower, Hobby Lobby
-Metal letter (Hobby Lobby)
-Burlap string (for hanging letter)
-Krylon Indoor/Outdoor Gloss in Pewter Gray (for painting letter)
-Small owl (vendor at local Gracie Lane)
-Hot glue gun

The base of the wreath and one embellishment came from this blog post. She details how she puts the burlap onto the wreath. I recommend reading it and/or checking out this video. I used both to help me create mine. I didn't stick to a strict pattern when manipulating and looping the burlap. Just decide what's best as you go.

Here's what mine looked like before all the embellishments:

From there it was just a matter of placing the embellishments on the wreath in a way I thought looked best. My sweet and willing husband spray painted the "E," and I attached it from the wire frame using a string. (Side note- I'll be changing this one element, the string is not fixated enough to keep the letter from spinning. I'll be going with a wider, flatter ribbon before the party. That probably seems obvious to crafting pros. I'm a novice.) The owl and flower are hot glued onto the wreath. I created the bow as a last minute add-on simply by tying the bow and gluing it on. Easy peasy!

Trust me, if I can do it, ANYONE can! Go head to your local Hobby Lobby, and have fun with it! (Oh, and watch the sales, that ribbon is 50% off often!)

Up next, I have a plan for another wreath to hang from my classroom door. I'll be creating it with my department ladies at a wreath-making party! Stay tuned!