One thing I get asked a lot is how I make my wreaths. I admit, when I first started, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. So many different wreaths, so many different ways to make them! After about a year of making them, and researching different methods, I finally found a technique that worked for me.
First, you want to gather all the materials you will be using. I’ll keep this simple, we’re focusing on placing the mesh on the wire form. Decorating tips can come at a later time.
- Wire form. Any size. I used a 12″ one here.
- Mesh. 1 roll of 21″ X 30 ‘ and 1 roll of 5 1/2″ mesh ribbon
- Pipe cleaners. I used 12 for this wreath
Second, let’s begin by placing the pipe cleaners on the wire form. Place them on the outer ring first. I like placing mine where the wire,that goes across to join all the loops, meets that outer ring. Next, I skip one ring and start placing my pipe cleaners between the sections. Like below:
Third, let’s start placing the mesh on our form. We’ll begin by anchoring our mesh. Grab a small piece and squeeze together. Firmly secure it by placing it on one of the outside rings, use the pipe cleaner to tie it down. Twist it till you know the mesh is securely in place.
Continue along the outer ring till you come back to where you started. Once you’re back at the beginning, make sure you fasten it to the first pipe cleaner that you secured the mesh with, you can jump to the inside ring and go around it the same way. One thing I have learned is to measure my mesh between placements. This ensures that the wreath comes out even on all sides. Depending on the size of the wreath you can measure 12″ or 15″. The higher, the bigger the wreath will turn out!
Continue all around the wreath till you come to the beginning again.
Once you are done with the inside ring you can fluff it out.
Finally, add your mesh ribbon. I start with an outside pipe cleaner, secure it, jump to the inside loop, secure it, jump back to the outside loop, secure it, and just zig zag all the way around the wreath till I come to the beginning. There are so many different variations of this technique. So, don’t be afraid to experiment!
There’s your base for a mesh wreath. You can add ribbons, stuffed animals, signs, almost anything you want!
Here’s mine with just ribbon. Decorating the wreaths will be on another blog! Don’t forget to check us out next week for that tutorial!
~Valerie
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Morning Glory Wreath Co 