Day 24 - A Holiday Wreath (plus a Sketch Winner!)

Hey there! Can you believe it is Christmas Eve? Insane, right? I'm suffering from a mix of elation, giddiness, and apprehension. The last because I haven't wrapped anything yet. I'm dreading the hours I'll be spending tonight. But it's all worth it in the end, right? I love this time spent with family, enjoying each other's company.

So here we are on the last day of Holiday Countdown. And today, I made a super easy wreath that can easily be adapted to other seasons and occasions.

It's basically a yarn-wrapped wreath with a patterned paper detail. Easy peasy. Wrapping the yarn around the foam wreath took me the longest. But I was watching a movie while doing it, so it was all good!

So here is what you will need:

• Foam wreath (you can get it at any craft store in varying sizes, this one is 10")
• Yarn in the colors of your choice (get the cheapest acrylic variety, not only is it super affordable, but you won't have to worry about moths eating it)
• Little pompoms
• Lily Bee Tiny Tablets
• Glue (I used quick dry wet glue)
• Scissors
• and coffee if you are working on it early in the morning (like I did) or late at night (maybe a cup of decaf then?)

The yarn wrapping part is super duper easy. I start with a little wet glue (quick dry is best), and stick a portion of the yarn to the foam wreath. Once it's dry, I just start wrapping it round and round and round, changing colors as needed. Once I reach the end, I apply more glue, hold the end bit of the yarn a bit, and it's done. This would be a super project to do with kids!

Then it starts the even more fun part! Choosing what you'll create with paper to decorate the wreath. I choose a little paper bird. I found this pattern online. It took only one sheet of our Tiny Tablet. One. I'm thinking I'll make a bunch of them and make an Easter wreath too!

Once the bird was done, I cut (freehand) two little holy leaves (out of another sheet of our Tiny Tablet), glued them to the bird's neck, and added three teeny pompoms.

To attach the bird to the wreath, I used white thread and put a stitch on top of the bird, and sewed the other end to the yarn.

Wrap a piece of ribbon around the whole wreath to hang, and wham, you are done!

Other ideas for decorating the wreath (in case you are not into birds), flowers, leaves, hearts, stars. The possibilities are endless!

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In our excitement to post our Holiday Countdown, we totally forgot to pick a winner for our last Sketch Challenge. Oops! Sorry! But we have one now.

ERICA HETTWER

Congratulations, Erica! Please email me your mailing info milesofpaper [at] gmail [dot] com.

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We'll be taking a little break to hang out with our families. But do come back on December 28 when we'll get a peek inside designer Georgia Keays' studio. We have exciting things coming up in January. New challenges, guest designers, and we'll debut our new paper lines!


THANK YOU for a great year! We here at Lily Bee want to wish you a fantastic holiday season, and a healthy new year filled with love and scrapbooking!