Mini, Mama, & Co.: Project: Halloween Wreath

It's Halloween!

Well, almost. ;)

I wanted to get a jump start on my decorating this year so I could enjoy one of my favorite holidays a bit longer.

Project time!

I saw the idea for this on Pinterest here. Loved how bright and fun it looked! On Etsy it was $54 though... No thank you! So I thought I'd take a shot at making it myself.

Supplies:
20" wire wreath form
(Totally forgot to take a pic of mine but they look like this)

Orange burlap ribbon (4)

Accent ribbon (for the bow)

And a pipe cleaner.

(Forgot to buy them ugh! But I improvised. :P )

Hobby Lobby was my store of choice for this project, since they frequently have 50% off their merchandise. Also, I found out that if you go to www.hobbylobby.com and click on "coupons", when you're in the store they can use the coupon there on your smartphone. They typically have a 40% off one item coupon. Fun fact. ;)

So I set out making this little wreath. Total, it cost me $26 to make this.
My How-To:
Cut the burlap into 10-12" lengths.

Then cut them in half length-wise.

At first I was tying the burlap on like this.

But found that looping them like this made the wreath more fluffy.

I started on the inner most rung, adding 4 looped strips of burlap per section.

Then continued that same pattern for each rung in each section. On my wreath form I have 4 rings... I chose to only fill the first 3.

The last step is to make the accent bow. I chose the chevron style in favor of the skulls so that I could use it for fall, and not just Halloween.

To make it fancier than a normal shoe-lace style bow, I created this poofy looped bow. I kept mine on the roll while I created it, unsure how much ribbon I was going to need.

First: loop the end of the ribbon, pinching it tightly in your left hand (if you're right handed)

Next: create a second loop, by twisting the ribbon so the pretty-side stays up & visible. Pinch the ribbon between your left hand's fingers, keeping a firm grip on them.

Pull it to the other side of your center loop by doing the same twist & pinch menthod, still keeping the pretty-side up. When you create the next loop, pull it up to make sure the length is the same as your other side.

Do these steps for each side of the now 3 times, giving yourself a fluffy 3 tiered bow, matching the lengths to each other as you go.

For the last loops, make them slightly longer and check to make sure they are the same length on each side by pulling them up and towards the center.

For the tail: pull the extra ribbon into a big loop.

Cut the excess off, pinching the ribbon in your left hand. (Mine was seriously cramping when I finished! Ugh)

Leave the tail as is for the moment.

Grab a twisty tie like the pipe cleaner or floral wire. (I used my bread's twisty thing because I didn't plan very well!)

Pull it through the center where your thumb has been gripping and is probably ready to fall off.

Twist it tightly and secure all of your loops.

Now that you have both hands free, fold the loop of your tail flat.

I then folded it again, making it skinnier.

Depending on the type of ending to your ribbon that you want, you can cut the ends in varying ways. I cut mine like this:

Creating this look:

Fluffing! Simply grab the loops you've created and pull and fluff them up as you like. I separated mine and pulled them into opposite directions to make it more full.

Next I grabbed some stretchy headband ribbon (again, I planned terribly for this so I didn't have pipe cleaners or floral wire) and secured my bow to a looped burlap section.