It's all of us!: Wreath, complete.

A few weeks ago, I told you about this "Pinspired" challenge I decided to take part in. After a few false starts and lots of sticking my tongue out at a styrofoam wreath form, I finally finished! There were a few times I almost gave up, but I'm so happy with the result and so glad I stuck it out!

(my post explaining the challenge)

I started with a simple styrofoam wreath form, and started wrapping it in light purple yarn.... one thing Pinterest doesn't tell you... wrapping a wreath form in yarn is a freaking LOT of work! It took a lot longer than I expected, especially the first go around! (Sorry there's no pictures of my steps... there were so many starts that I took apart to do over... it seemed silly to take pictures since I was never sure if I was going to keep the result!) The yarn was really thin - it's probably faster if you use a thicker one! At first I was cutting lengths of yarn a few yards long, wrapping, then tying on a new length. After a while, though, it seemed that this wasn't any faster than just passing the entire skein of yarn through the wraeth every time, though... and that way there weould be no knots showing. I secured the end with a straight pin.

The fabric ruffles are from polka dot fat quarters - mine are flannel, but I don't think the fabric matters much. I cut strips running the long way, about 4 inches in width. (These are actually the strips I usually cut to make brims for my bonnets, but I repurposed a few!). I ruffled them, then wrapped them around tightly and secured them with straight pins. At the base of the ruffle, to hide the raw edge, I glued some silk flowers. You could make flowers to put here if you're so inclined, and I might have if I hadn't had a box of pretty flowers sitting around waiting for a project :).

Then came the butterflies! These feather butterflies have lived a long and happy and varied life! I bought them at Paper Source about 5 years ago, when I was living in CA. First they lived on my bedroom windows in CA, then in my bedroom in Boston, then decorated Raina's nursery, some now live on a painting I made for Raina's room, and some are reserved for a special project I'm working on with Raina now. Phew. They are still for sale on their website, and depending on the season they are on the stores sometimes, too! Their is a garland set and a magnet set - for this wreath I used the magnet set minus two, and a strand and a half of the garland.

I didn't make too much of a fuss about the pattern, except for making sure there were none of the same color touching. I'm not really sure why the two to the right of the ruffle at the bottom are flying the opposite direction. I don't know if I love it or not, but by the time I really thought about it, the hot glue was dry and they weren't going anywhere!

I did end up snipping off all of the tiny antennae. They looked a little messy when they were on... I think it looks much cleaner without them.

These feather butterflies are delicate. If you pull on them too hard, the feathers will separate. If you pull way too hard, the wing will pull right out of the body. BUT, with that said... these butterflies have lasted through one cross country trip in a U-Haul, a cross city move, a move out of the city, and being hung in a baby's room. So as long as you don't let your dog play with them, you should be good. :)

This little guy has some funky eyes. And an antenna that left a little stump. It looks a little like a vampire butterfly.

For a project I was unsure of at best when I started, I couldn't be happier with the result. Purple sparkly butterflies. If you know me, then you know this IS me :). (My senior year of high school, if something didn't fit that description, it was not in my wardrobe) These pictures are taken on my front door to use the pretty natural light, but I'm thinking this is more of an indoor wreath. Maybe if we had a storm door I'd feel differently. Maybe on the outside of Raina's bedroom door? (She already thinks it's for her anyway!)