The play time inspired me to make another St. Patrick's Day project. I decided on a clothespin wreath. In honor of my Whittle a Little year, I gave myself an additional challenge to make this wreath using only items I had on hand. It turned out that I didn't have a proper wreath form, so even that had to come from my imagination.
I gathered these items:
- foam core
- a green marker
- some green handmade scrapbook paper
- clothespins in two sizes
- a sheet of green gem stickers
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- two rolls of washi tape, one with green stripes, the other with gold chevrons
- narrow picot edge green satin ribbon
- gold mesh ribbon a bit over an inch wide
- wide wire-edge ribbon in gold and white.
Using a plastic bowl, I traced a circle on the foam core and cut it out with a craft knife.
I measured in an inch or so from the edge, creating a smaller circle, and cut the inside circle out, leaving a ring of foam core to use as my wreath base.
Next I poked two holes in the foam core and laced through them a piece of picture frame wire. I twisted the wire into a loop, with the twisted ends on the front side of the wreath. Once the foam core was covered with the green paper, the twisted wire would be hidden, leaving a clean loop on the back of the wreath. This wire loop is used to hang the completed wreath.
I used the handmade green scrapbook paper and some white glue (which dries clear) to cover the foam core. I overlapped the inner edge of the ring with the paper to hide the inner edge of the foam core. I cut little slits along the outer edge of the paper to wrap around the outer edge of the foam core and mold the paper into the circular shape.
I experimented with the clothespins to determine both the placement, and the amount of clothespins I'd need. I pinned them in place temporarily to clamp the paper to the foam core until the paper dried.
Then it was time to decorate the clothespins. The small clothespins were easy to cover. I simply used white glue to attach the narrow satin ribbon to one side of a clothespin, then trimmed the ribbon to size.
The large clothespins took a bit more time to decorate. The washi tape is wider than the clothespins. So I centered the clothespin on top of the inverted tape, cut the tape a bit longer than needed, and adhered the clothespin to the tape. Then I used a craft knife to trim the tape to the exact size of the clothespin on all four sides.
I chose a pattern of one green clothespin, then one gold, then a small ribbon-covered clothespin.
Once they were in place, I put a green gem sticker at the tip of each clothespin to form a sparkly circle.
I hung the wreath on my wall to figure out what to do next. Unfortunately, the white edge of the foam core was still slightly visible, even though it was hidden under the lip of the green paper. So I used a green marker to color in the edge of the white foam core and camouflage it a bit.
I next needed to decide what kind of bow to use, how big of a bow I wanted, what method I wanted to use to create the bow, and where I wanted to place it. I used a method similar to the one in the video at this link ... but I sort of made it up as I went along, trial and error. (The video has a great tip about gathering the bow which I'll be sure to use next time).
I used the full length of white/gold ribbon that I had on hand. I tied the center of the bow with the narrow gold mesh ribbon. My bow had huge loops at the top. So I took each of the loops and folded it in on itself to give the illusion of a smaller loop on top of a bigger loop. Because the ribbon has a wire edge, the four loops hold their shape, even though the smaller top loop is not held in place at the center of the bow.
I decided to place the loop at the top of the wreath, slightly off center.
With the wreath complete, I hung it over the mantle ... and looked at it for a few hours. Something wasn't right. I decided that the scale was off. My wreath was too small for that big expanse of brick.
I had two sets of green glitter shamrocks on hand and thought I might be able to attach them to the back of the wreath to make the wreath larger.
I used transparent tape to hold the shamrocks in place, then hung the wreath again ... and looked at it for more than a day. Something was still off.
Though the size was much better, the glittery shamrocks completely overpowered the simplicity of the clothespins ... and the clothespins were supposed to be the stars of this wreath.
So I removed the shamrocks and decided to hang the wreath on a wall in the dining room. The scale is much better, and it hangs at eye level. The clothespins once again have center stage.
I like that this wreath whispers "St. Patrick's Day" instead of screaming it. I think I may get away with displaying it after that holiday is over.
So what did I do with my mantle? Glitter shamrock confetti!
(I need to find a different spot to store the Bic candle lighter. It ruins the color scheme). 😉
The living room is ready for a St. Patrick's Day party ... which probably means a bowl of popcorn and a movie. Along with a kiss or two, of course.
We party hardy around here.
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