You know those super crafty people who are like, "Look at this thing I whipped up during my child's naptime! I was just feeling inspired." I am not her. Not at all. Sure, I can whip up a tutu faster than anyone I know, but anything out of the box? Forget about it!
I wanted to create a tutu wreath. A nice circle wreath with tulle puffing out of the outside. It seemed easy, it seemed cute, and it would be a great addition to a baby shower my mom was co-hosting.
This was one giant learning experience.
But I'm a positive person so let me give you 2 reasons why I'm still glad I made it:
1. It is ADORABLE.
2. You can learn from me.
So lets get started.
I went to Hobby Lobby to find a circle wreath form. I thought that was a common item? Apparently not. I've seen people on Pinterest make them out of pool noodles or foam things from Home Depot and I've always thought that was a bit ridiculous. Wrong. Maybe I didn't look in the right spot, but I couldn't find them anywhere. They had just about every other variety of wreath form except the one I wanted.
So I chose a wreath that was styrafoam and squared. It was a circle, but it was a square. That doesn't make sense, I know. But bear with me... this is going to be a long post if you're already frustrated with me. It was green and in the floral section. I also happened upon a heart shaped wire wreath and I snatched it up in case I needed it for a future project. Hello foreshadowing.
I got back to the office and immediately realized my problem. The styrafoam was green and my tulle is practically transparent. Lovely. So I grabbed some spare spray paint and took my wreath outside to spray it light pink. Don't do this. You will laugh and cry. Styrafoam is extremely porous so the paint just sort of seeps into the holes. And when it doesn't seep into the holes, it dissolves the styrafoam.
I sat on my office floor, wondering what my next step was going to be. In desperation, I grabbed the wire heart and got to work.
1. Wrap the wire with ribbon. (I used 7/8" but it really doesn't matter much.) This will create an even surface for the tulle to lay on, and it'll make sure you don't see wire through the tulle.
Insert another learning experience here. There is apparently a right way and a wrong way to wrap ribbon. Both ways with get the job done, but the wrong way will cause you to drop the roll continuously and curse the craft gods in frustration. They make look the same, but they are not!
Wrapping the points of the heart is difficult. Don't dwell on it, nobody will be able to tell if there are a few lumps or imperfections.
2. I tucked the end of the ribbon into itself so I didn't have a huge knot lump and it seemed to work just fine. The ribbon will be covered in tulle, so it won't be unraveling on its own.
3. Cut tulle into strips. I cut mine into 9" strips, but it's completely up to you. Don't cut them too short or it will be too difficult to tie the knots.
4. One by one, tie the strips onto the wreath. I wanted all of the fluff to be facing the same direction, but you could certainly have the fluff go all around the wreath if you want. I wouldn't have any facing the back of the wreath; that'll just make it lay funny against the door. Be sure you tie each strip very close to each other. Once they are tied tight, they don't slide along the ribbon very easily. Ask me how I know that...
If you are looking at the completed heart and thinking, "Hmm, that doesn't really look like all of the tulle is facing the same direction" you are right. It was. But I'm a terrible craft blogger and forgot to take a picture of it before I handed it over to my mom for baby shower decor. Between all of it's trips in the car and several hands touching it, the fluff got a little spread out.
5. Keep tying. Again, the points of the heart are difficult. Just do what you can and the fluff will cover any of your mistakes. Thank you fluff! Look at the last photo in the instructions below. Weird picture, I know. But I wanted to show you the easiest way to hold the wreath while you tie. You're welcome.
6. You can attach a strip of tulle to the top to hang the wreath like I did or hang it another way if you'd like.
Here's another fun tip: Be sure you have enough tulle. I estimated two rolls of tulle and SHOCKER, I was wrong. It was more like two and a half.
I'm going to be honest. This took a long time! Several hours at least. And because I'm typically not a very crafty person, I was sort of annoyed with how long it was taking me. But really, the end result is adorable! This would look so precious in a baby girl's nursery!
Next week I'm going to show you a few more ideas for a tutu inspired baby shower, so come back for more!
And please don't forget you can buy all of your tulle and ribbon here!