Tuesday, February 3, 2015

$2 Simple and Sweet Argyle Heart Valentine Wreath

With Valentine's Day fast approaching I decided to make (what else?) a wreath! Making my own wreaths is definitely my new obsession. If they weren't so darn expensive I might have more. But they are, so I'll just make mine for super cheap and be all the merrier because I made it.
It makes me smile when I see my wreaths on my front door when I pull in. But I didn't just want to see my wreaths outside, I wanted a spot for my more delicate, non weatherproof wreaths, like this one, to display inside. So I hung up a large empty frame from my stash of frames that I acquired from a garage sale for $5 for the whole box. The lady practically shoved the overflowing box into my arms as I was looking at one frame that was marked $5 alone. I didn't even have to try to get a deal. People crack me up at garage sales.
It definitely needed a paint job...of crisp, clean white.

Now that I had a spot for "seasonal" wreaths inside the house, I needed a wreath! Pinterest yet again was my go to for this wreath. There were quite a few argyle "heart" wreaths, although all of them were round.  My favorite inspiration by far was by Cass at Remodelaholic. With her detailed tutorial even a monkey could make this wreath.

I was envisioning something a little different with my wreath, a heart shape instead of the classic circle.

First I had to make a heart form...I knew I wasn't going to buy one! So I searched for a cheap, easy diy wreath form. I found the perfect one on fynesdesigns! She had a tutorial laid out in one easy to follow picture!

Basically you get your supplies:

foam pipe cover
wire hanger
pliers
scissors
duct tape
elbow grease

Elbow grease not pictured.

The only supply I didn't have was a pipe cover and it only cost $2.59 at Walmart for a 4 pack! Not only do these pipe covers make great wreath forms but they are awesome swords! Who knew? We had a family sword fight...that I lost miserably at. They totally ganged up on me.

I got started by grabbing a wire hanger from my spare closet, forming it into a heart shape, then cutting a pipe cover in half and taping it together.
 I bent and shaped mine with a needle nose pliers and sheer brute strength while sitting on the toilet watching Jackson take a bath.
Apparently I used Cory's "expensive" duct tape...it did seem to work really good!
I decided to go with a traditional grey yarn to wrap the form since it looks very "argyley" (I like to make up words).
I'm not gonna sugar coat it, this part takes A WHILE. I wrapped half and then got hung up on the bottom of the heart. So I set it aside to start from the top of the other side another day. I came back to it on super bowl Sunday. We got snowed in and instead of moping about missing out on a party, I grabbed a beer and wrapped my little heart out while I glanced up to watch the commercials every once in a while.

Now I was, finally, ready for hearts. I used pink and white felt. I wanted a lighter pink but the store didn't have any light pink, so a medium pink would have to do. I cut one heart out and used that as a template for the rest of them.
I laid all the hearts out where I wanted them. I then attempted glued the hearts on with gorilla glue because I was too lazy to plug in the glue gun (hey, at least I'm honest). I don't think it really helped since the hearts kept falling off when I moved the wreath...
Then I wrapped grey yarn around the hearts to make the argyle look. I tied a piece to the back and made diagonal lines of yarn by wrapping around the wreath on one side of all the white hearts.
When I got to the top I wrapped the yarn around the hanger hook and started wrapping the diagonal lines on the pink hearts.
I kept going, alternating heart colors and sides of the hearts until I had the argyle x's all done. I then tied it off on the back of the wreath. I didn't think it was going to work out at first because of the odd heart shape, but it exceeded my expectations.
Here is the completed wreath hung in my new seasonal wreath display frame. I love it's simple but sweet look, perfect for Valentine's Day! The best thing about it though is it only cost about $2 to make! I only had to buy the pipe cover and pink felt (29 cents at Walmart) since all the other supplies I had in my closet and in with my crafting supplies! This was definitely one of the cheapest wreaths I've ever made!

7 comments:

  1. I LOVE this! It's so cute & unique! There are so many heart crafts out there but they always seem to be the same exact kind of thing! It's nice to see something different for a change. :)

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  2. I'm so glad that you joined us for this week's Bloggers Brags Pinterest Party! I've pinned your post to the BBPP Pinterest Board. See you next week!

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  3. What a helpful tutorial with precise instructions. This looks very pretty and easy. Something I can try with my daughters that are not to difficult. Thank you. #MondayMadness

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