Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Christmas Card Wreath

I was looking for a fun and creative way to display Christmas cards, and this is the best idea I have come across so far! Seemed pretty simple, and really adorable. Here is the original idea. Enjoy!


Materials:
-anchor wire ($4 at Ace Hardware)
-wire cutter
-wooden clothespins ($2 at Walmart)
-wooden beads (if you can find them in red and green, awesome, otherwise, you can paint them)
-red, primary green, and evergreen acrylic paint ($0.50 each at Michael's)
-paint brushes
-red Christmas ribbon ($1 at Target)
-hot glue gun (optional, only needed if the ribbon can attach on its own)

1. Paint half of the clothespins primary green. I painted the top and sides, let them dry about 30 minutes, and then painted the bottom and inside.




2. Paint the remaining half of the clothespins evergreen.


3. Paint half of the wooden beads red, and half of them green. Obviously if you were able to find wooden colored beads, you can skip this step. I recommend painting the top half of the bead, letting it dry, and then painting the bottom half.


4. Once the clothespins are dry, string one onto the wire through the spring in the center, making sure the side that clips faces away from/to the outside of the wreath.As a note, the original wire I got for this project was bead wire. Don't get that--it's too stringy and won't hold shape well for the wreath. It has to be a wire that is sturdy and malleable, but can still hold its shape.


5. Then, string a wooden bead onto the wire.


6. String the other green clothespin onto the wire through the spring in the center.


7. Continue to string alternating colors of wooden beads and clothespins until you reach your desired size. For example, primary green clothespin, red bead, evergreen clothespin, green bead, etc.



 8.  All right, this next step gets a little hairy, so take note. When you reach the size you want, make sure that both ends match up in the pattern of alternating clothespins and bead.


Whichever end has the bead on it for the end, you will take the opposite wire and thread it through like so.



Now, pull the wire nice and taut, so that  the beads and clothespins are relatively stable and don't spin.


Next, twist the wire together below the bead.


Finally, bring both wires together and fold into a loop (you will use the loop to hang the wreath on a nail or hook). To secure, twist the wire at the base of the loop.


9. Attach the Christmas bow to the wreath. The ones I bought had twist ties on the back, so I twisted it on. For some ribbons, you may have to use a hot glue gun.You can hide the hanging loop by securing the ribbon on the top of the wreath, but I liked the look visually of the ribbon better on the bottom of the wreath.


10. Clip your Christmas cards to the clothespins! I will post a picture of that when it's hanging, and I have some cards to put on my wreath. :)


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