super quick festive wreath...

...i've been wanting to make my own festive wreath for a few weeks, but my problem has been deciding which style i wanted ~ wrapped yarn, crocheted, padded fabric, traditional twigs and holly, baubles and yarn balls ~ the possibilities are endless...
...then i saw this sweet wreath on flickr, by the lovely Tamar of Nest Decorating, and it was as though a hundred tiny festive fairy lights started twinkling in my brain... ;)

...it was so quick to make that there wasn't time to take stage by stage pics (actually i was having so much fun making it while watching sunday afternoon tv, that i completely forgot about taking progress pics. but it really was super quick and easy to make that you don't really need them anyway!) so here's how i did it...

...first ~ i used the inside hoop of an old 8 inch embroidery hoop as the base...

...then ~ i padded out the hoop with red felt, two A4-ish pieces cut into one inch strips and simply machine stitched together to create one long strip. i wrapped the hoop with two layers, a wee bit of glue here and there to anchor the first layer and a few small stitches to finish the end...
...next ~ i picked out some pretty festive fabrics in red, white, cream and grey, and cut them into 8 inch long strips of varying widths from an inch to a quarter inch...

...then ~ i started tying the strips onto the padded hoop with double knots, i started with the widest strips first, spacing them evenly around the hoop. doing the same with all the fabric strips i kept all the knots on the outside of the hoop, so that the inside was kept fairly neat and tidy...

...next ~ i had a rummage around in the christmas decoration box and found my favourite wee santa and dangled him from the top of the hoop with a length of 2mm red ribbon. he needed a wee bit of persuasion to face the right way but he got the idea eventually!

...and lastly ~ i took a long length (maybe a metre?) of 2cm wide red ribbon and tied it around the top of the wreath too. i knotted it again about 6 inches above the wreath and made a pretty bow to top it all off...
...and voila, bob's your uncle, one super quick festive wreath!

...and before i go i want to say huge thank you for all your lovely comments about my pot holdering exhibition, and an especially huge thank you for humouring me with the title of that last post... ;)

...wishing you all a fabulous friday!
emma
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