{Guest Post}: Frosty Winter Wreath

 Since I'm still in vacation mode and don't have access to my studio to do a home decor DIY, I asked my pal Shizz from Baby Shmizz to whip up a little something for you all to enjoy. Per usual, she didn't disappoint!

Its a new year, so time for a new wreath!  January is one of those kinda boring months without a theme, besides well, SNOW.  Depending on where you live of course, those of you with palm trees just be quiet, mmkay?

Supplies:
wreath form (I used straw because its cheaper)
2-3 white feather boas
2-3 wooden stars
25 yd roll of white tulle
1 ft length of white ribbon for hanging
1 sheet white craft foam
1 sheet glittered white craft foam, with self-stick adhesive side
white acrylic paint
silver glitter acrylic paint
paint brushes/foam brush
pen or pencil
scissors
hot glue gun
aerosol hairspray (yes, you read that right)

First you're going to want to prep your stars and your snowflakes.

For the stars, first paint them white (I did 2 coats).  Then after they are dry, apply at least 2 coats of the glitter paint (lots of sparkle is good :).  And because I was totally engrossed in watching My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding while I was doing this wreath, I completely forgot to take pictures of this part.  But its a no-brainer really: paint white, repeat, paint silver, repeat, let dry.

For the snowflakes, I did remember to take pictures :)  You could buy plastic sparkly snowflakes, but I couldn't find any, so I made my own from craft foam.  First I cut out a snowflake template that I could transfer onto the foam.  I got my template from this book.

I just used white computer paper to make the template.

Then, I prepared the craft foam to make the snowflakes.  Peel off the adhesive side on the glitter foam and line it up on top of the plain white foam, and stick them together.

2 layers makes the snowflakes stiffer and better on the wreath.

Now, trace your snowflake templates onto the plain white side of the foam sammich that you just made.  For some reason my house lacks pencils, so I used a pen for this.

Then, cut all the snowflakes out and admire these little pretties :)

Now its time to assemble the wreath.

First you want to wrap your tulle around the entire wreath form.  The tulle provides a white background, and also provides a rough surface which makes it easier for the glue to grab on when you attach the snowflakes & stars.

I used the entire 25 yards on this 12" diameter wreath

Then, you want to wrap your boas around the wreath.  What is great about craft boas is that at each end, there is a small length of string that does not have feathers.  You use this string to knot the two ends together at the back of the wreath so you don't have to glue it.

See what I mean about the knots?

When I wrapped the boas, I wrapped them with space in between each wrap, so that the ends of that boa were tied together.  Then I wrapped another boa filling in those spaces.  So the ends of each boa are tied together, but you aren't tying 1 boa to another boa.  Make sense?

Now its time to glue on all your sparkly stars & snowflakes (make sure the stars are dried!).

First you want to lay them out how you want them arranged, THEN glue them down in place.  Once you have them glued down, go back and glue any floppy parts again.  Hot glue is your friend, you can never use too much :)

Make a loop with your piece of ribbon, thread it around the top of your wreath and hang that beauty up on your door for all to see!

You're probably wondering where the hairspray comes in...

If you happen to have boas that are going through a mid-life crisis and are shedding their feathers, after the wreath is all assembled you can spray the wreath with the hairspray and that will set the feathers in place.  Best to use aerosol hairspray, as the mist is finer (pump hairspray is too wet and will leave the feathers droopy and gloopy).

Have fun making your wreath and brightening up a gloomy winter day!

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