Valentine’s Day Ribbon Wreath Tutorial

I am addicted to making wreaths. I try to make one for every new holiday or occasion. We took our Christmas decorations down this past weekend so it was time for the Santa wreath to go back in the closet. Next up was a Valentine’s Day wreath.

Valentine’s Day ribbon wreath.

I had all of these cute ideas to do a red chevron burlap wreath or a heart shaped wreath (using a heart shaped form) but these dreams were crushed when I realized it was Sunday and Hobby Lobby was closed so I had to go to Michael’s instead. I must say I was very disappointed in their selection compared to HL. They had no burlap ribbon at all, and definitely no heart shaped wreaths. No Valentine’s themed ribbon without wire either, which is what I normally use for these types of projects. But I made do with what they had and came up with this cute little thing! So here is a tutorial for how to make the easiest wreath you’ll ever try–a wrapped ribbon wreath!

What you need:

For the wreath:
-Foam wreath form (I used 14″ diameter.)
-2 spools thick ribbon, approximately 2″ wide (MUCH easier to use ribbon WITHOUT wire.)
-1 spool thinner accent ribbon, approximately 1″ wide
-Scissors
-Hot glue gun
For the decorations:
-2 wooden hearts
-2 flower clips

What to do:

1. On the inside of your wreath form, glue the starting edge of your ribbon. I typically try to glue it at a slight angle, in the direction toward which you are going to wrap.

2. Begin wrapping around your form. Try to overlap the ribbon slightly so that none of the foam shows through. Pull as tightly as possible to avoid wrinkles in your ribbon. Note: it is much more difficult to smooth out wrinkles with ribbons that have wire, hence why I typically use wireless ribbon.

3. Continue wrapping until you run out of ribbon. Usually a full spool will cover 1/2 a 14″ wreath form. Then, glue the ending edge of ribbon to the inside of your form.

4. Repeat from beginning step until your wreath is completed covered. Be sure to start your new spool of ribbon at the same place where the old left off.

Fully wrapped ribbon wreath.

5. Next it is time to add your accessories. I normally play around with the placement before gluing, to see what looks best. Use the hot glue gun to secure the wooden hearts to the upper left corner of your wreath.

6. If your flowers do not have a clip, glue to the bottom right corner. If they have clips like the ones I used, simply pull the ribbon slightly away from the form and clip the flowers to the ribbon.

Flower with clip.

7. Cut two long sections of your smaller accent ribbon. The length is up to you. This is how you will hang your wreath. Tie in a bow with some slack above your wreath.

Here is the finished product! So easy and cute!

Have you ever tried making a ribbon wreath?

Love Your State Frame

For Christmas I wanted to give my best friend something homemade since I have gotten so into crafting over the past year. She is from my hometown of Winchester but is currently living in the Hampton Roads area. I decided to go with this theme and put a little twist on the many framed state crafts I have been seeing on Etsy and Pinterest. Forgive me for failing to have pictures of the process but this one is not too difficult to follow.

Home State Picture Frame

What you need:
Scrapbook paper
-1 large piece for your background
-1 medium sized piece for your state
-Small pieces for your items
Double sided tape or glue
Scissors or razor blade
Pencil
Picture frame

What to do:
The hardest part was to cut out the state. For this, I figured there was no way I could freehand Virginia, so I needed to trace. I pulled up a picture of Virginia on my iPad, turned the brightness up as far as it would go, put the scrapbook paper overtop and started tracing. This worked out pretty well, but you have to be careful that you don’t move the picture around on the screen while tracing.

Next, cut out the state with scissors, or, better yet, a razor blade. Colorado and Wyoming–you lucked out on this part. Maryland and Massachusetts–not so much.

I then decided on three symbols–a house for where she lives, a graduation cap for where she went to college, and a heart for where she grew up (home is where the heart is, right?) You can trace or free-hand these, whatever is easiest for you.

Now simply tape or glue your state onto your scrapbook paper background and glue your symbols on the geographically correct locations (ashamed that I had to double and triple check this part!)

Where you live, where you went to school, and where you grew up.

Cut your scrapbooking paper to the appropriate size and insert into your picture frame.

My friend loved it! She sent me this picture of it hanging on her wall at home.

What an easy and inexpensive gift for a friend, relative, or even as a housewarming present. What are some fun personalized crafts you have made?