Valentines Ideas: How to Make a Wreath {Pink Tulle, Ribbon & Burlap}

Where I live, Valentines ideas for the front door are hard to come by.  Our winter season is pretty harsh here, with lots of wind, snow and freezing rain; not exactly the ideal weather for a wreath!

Still, I was determined to figure out how to make a wreath to brighten up our dreary snow-covered front porch for Valentines Day. I can’t resist a chance to decorate with pink!

I was stuck for awhile on what kind of material to use and how to fasten any accessories, as the wreath would have to be ‘weatherproof’ enough to withstand an early February snow storm.

I ruled out  lots of pretty ideas (for example, a felted rose wreath) because I knew they’d either end up soaked or blown to smithereens.

I ended up making a burlap and ribbon ‘rag wreath’ because it seemed hardy enough to take a beating from the North Atlantic winds.  No gluing. No wiring.  Everything is tied down to the wreath with knots!

Luckily, our porch is covered with an overhang, so it’s fairly protected from the elements. Even so, I probably won’t leave this Valentines wreath out there if the weather gets too nasty.

Want to know how to make a wreath like this for your door? It was super easy!

• I started by covering a $4 grapevine wreath with burlap.  (Note: You could use any kind of wreath form as it’ll end up completely covered.)
• Next, I wrapped it loosely with pink sinamay which I had on hand.  I realize this isn’t always easy to find.  If you can’t put your hands on some, you can leave more burlap exposed, which would be a really nice look too.
• I pinched the sinamay together in a spot, and tied it with several strands of ribbon.  (If you aren’t using sinamay, you’d just wrap the ribbon right around your wreath and tie it.) I kept layering on more and more ribbon strands.
• In these shots, you can see how I started with the wide polka dot ribbon, then the tulle (pic 1).  I kept adding more strands until it was nice and full (pic 2).

• You can use any style of ribbon you like, but mine included two types of narrow grosgrain ribbon, a wide polka dot grosgrain ribbon, a medium sheer ribbon, a medium burlap ribbon, twine, and pink tulle.
• Go around the wreath and repeat the process of tying bunches of ribbon until your wreath has nice volume and looks balanced.
• Step back and enjoy!

So, are you decorating for Valentines Day too?

For me, its just an opportunity  to add a little pop of pretty to a couple of otherwise routine winter weeks!

Until next time,

Kerri

P.S. I’m sharing this post at Beth’s Tips & Tutorials party…