I am tickled pink to be bringing you guys an awesome crafty post today! I don’t have a crafty bone in my body, but fellow blogger Elisebet from My Life: A Work in Progress does, and she has put together this awesome tutorial for you. Enjoy!!!

I have a newfound love for holiday door wreaths. To be honest, I never cared about holiday decorations (especially on the OUTSIDE of the house) until I started staying at home with my son. The home is my domain. Yes, it’s usually a messy domain, 🙁 but my recent domestication has me embracing sewing and crafts as my new hobbies. One thing I learned very quickly, you can usually make something much cheaper yourself, rather than buying it.

See this cute door wreath? It cost me about $7 to make.

Valentine’s Day Fabric Door Wreath:

Supplies-

• 1/4 yard of red fleece
• 1/4 yard of pink fleece
• 1/4 yard of white fleece
• 18″ wreath
• ornament of your choice (optional)
• 3 hair pins (or ornament hooks or paper clips)
• yarn, extra fabric, or rope (at least a 15’5″ strip)

Notes: I purchased a straw wreath on sale for less than $2.50 from a local craft store. The fleece was 50% off from a fabric store. Fleece is an appropriate fabric for this project, because it does not unravel when cut, so it doesn’t need to be serged or zig zagged stitched on the edges like other fabrics.

Step 1- You need a long thin strip of fabric or rope or yarn to be the base of the garland (approximately 15′ 5″). If you don’t have anything long enough, you can tie strips together.

I started with a 5′ strip from an old fleece blanket. When I came to the end of it, I just cut more and tied the strips together. Whatever you decide to use, make sure you tie the end into a knot, so your fleece “bows” don’t slip off.

What I started with.

Step 2- Cut your fleece fabric into thin 6″ strips…about 1/2″ wide.

12″ strips Cut the 12″ strips in half, ending with 6″ strips.

Step 3- Tie your 6″ strips one by one around your garland base. I did one red strip followed by a white strip and then a pink strip. I recommend tying the strip loosely first; push the knot down against the previous bows; then tighten.

Tie loose knot Push knot down against other bows, then pull tight.

Step 4- Continue until you’ve used up your fleece strips. Your garland needs to be somewhere around 15 1/2′ to cover an 18″ wreath. If you purchase a larger wreath, buy 1/2 yard of fleece instead of 1/4 yard.

Make sure you knot the end of your garland.

Knot the end of the garland.

Finished fabric garland

Step 5- Wrap garland around wreath. Use hairpins to secure both ends of the wreath to the garland.

(I left the plastic on my straw wreath. I’ll use it again for a spring wreath in a couple of months.)

Use hairpin to secure fabric garland to wreath.

Push hairpin in all the way.

Step 6- Attach ornament to bottom of wreath with hairpin (optional).

Step 7- Tie a piece of fabric, yarn, or rope around the top of the wreath. Use that to secure your wreath to door hook or wreath hanger.

Step 8- Hang, fluff, and admire!

A note about this DIY Valentine’s Day door wreath: Yes, it’s time-consuming (but easy!) to make the fabric garland for the wreath, but well worth it in the end (I think!). I suggest spreading out this project over a couple or few days. If you have a favorite TV show in the evenings, you could work on the garland then. I found it strangely therapeutic to tie my little fabric “bows.” As well, you can remove the garland to store until next year and then reuse the wreath for another holiday. The fabric garland is also washable (provided the knots are tight) on the gentle cycle, hang to dry. There are a lot of possibilities for this fabric wreath, making your money and time well spent!

About the author:

Elisebet is an Army reservist, Navy wife, former English teacher, and mommy to a squirmy, mobile 8-month old baby boy. With a background in writing, journalism, and public affairs, she now enjoys blogging at My Life: A Work in Progress about parenting, motherhood, baby, family, food, life, cloth diapers, eco-friendly products, product reviews, giveaways, and more.