A Little Patriotic Decorating to Begin the Memorial Day Weekend!

 

 

I know this wreath project is a departure from my usual blog posts, but I really liked how this wreath turned out and wanted to share it with you.
This is actually what you can get when you fail to follow the directions. It is a rare thing having a great thing come from a mistake.

Last year at this time my local craft store offered an idea sheet for a wreath made from bandanas in red, white and blue. It was so popular that those colors quickly sold out! No surprise there, it was a great idea. I carried it with me in the hopes one day I'd get them on sale. A few months ago I did and gathered up the bandanas. I'd picked up a small 12" wire wreath frame like I'd used on the burlap wreath projects before. That's where I made my mistake. It called for a foam wreath (no size specified). I figured I'd press on any way and soon found that the foam wreath frame was an essential part of taking up the fabric. I had a very floppy and a bit too wide wreath. So I played around with a few options but liked this one the best. It required no wire to secure the sections and created a nice full double layered wreath.

Here's what you will need to make one like this:

• 1-12" wire wreath
• 6 red bandanas
• 6 white bandanas
• 4 navy blue bandanas
• optional: stars, I painted three wooden stars white, but foam or paper stars can be substituted
• wire to create a loop to hang the wreath or something of your own choosing.

 

 

 

FILLING ORDER:

1. This is my 12" wire wreath. There are 5 sections it'll be easiest if you begin in this 12 o'clock position.
2. Cut all of your bandanas in half. You will have 32 bandana pieces to fit into 5 sections. Each section will have 6 bandana pieces, except 2, they will have 7 pieces.
3. As you will have 8 halves of navy blue bandanas begin at 12 o'clock and work counter clockwise and fill the first section with 6 blue.
4. In the next section use the last 2 blue pieces and then 5 more in a red/white/red/white pattern.
5. Section 3 will have 6 bandana pieces as you continue the pattern.
6. Section 4 will have your second group of 7 pieces and you will end with the remaining section filled with 6. It will be a snug fit but with a bit of maneuvering you'll get them all in.

HOW TO ATTACH:

This is easiest explained with a few photos to show you how.

1. Fold you bandana in half.

2. Thread your folded fabric over the outside wire to the inside wire. They should be about equally divided inside and outside.

3. Fold the fabric over the inside wire back towards the outside edge. Thread it under the second wire. The center two wires are a bit raised and makes it a bit easier to accomplish. As more bandanas are added this will be a bit more difficult, but achievable. Remember this closeness helps to hold it all together without additional wires.

4. The final step is saved until all the sections are in place. I've shown it here isolated just to let you see what you need to do. You will fan the section you have pulled through. This hides the wire frame and creates a secondary layer to your wreath.

5. Hang on your door. I created a small wire loop attached to the back of the frame, you may have an other idea. The stars in the center of the wreath are hung separately on the wreath hook and are totally optional. After painting the stares I wired them together so I could arrange them to fit the space. I used a loop of jute to hang them.


I figure this will get lots of use for Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day and Veteran's Day and maybe even in between!

Hope you like it and maybe even try it!

Thanks for stopping by...

Andrea