Yarn Wreath - Chickaniddy Crafts + a Video

Hello and welcome to the fifth and final day of "Christmas Catch-up" here at Precocious Paper. I'm on my way to CHA, but I am also excited to share with you this yarn wreath embellished with Chickaniddy Crafts' Jolly Good embellishments.

I started with my usual straw wreath base, then wrapped the wreath form with yarn that I matched to the Jolly Good collection. I used several of the Jolly Good cardstock stickers to embellish the wreath, as well as handmade flowers and leaves.

Read more about the process of making this wreath on the Chickaniddy Crafts blog here. If you'd like to learn my technique for creating the large, two-toned felt roses, please enjoy my latest video tutorial:

I'm experiencing technical difficulties that I won't be able to resolve until I get back from CHA. I will update this post with the video when I get back on Monday.

Thanks for not minding that I stretched out the holidays a little farther into January. I hope you enjoyed my round-up of Christmas projects. I know I enjoyed creating them. If you missed any, be sure to check out...

*Pretty Little Studio December Mini Album Cover
*The Studio Challenges-inspired Company Holiday Party Layout
*Craftwell Gold Embossed Leaf Wreath
*Chickaniddy Crafts Jolly Good Mini Album

Be sure to leave a comment on the Craftwell wreath post if you'd like to win the Teresa Collins Woodgrain Embossing folding that I am giving away.

Enjoy your weekend! Tessa

Front Door Friday - Santa Wreath - Pretty Little Studio

Hello! I'm excited to share with you a new wreath, made with Pretty Little Studio paper ribbons:

I started by wrapping a wreath base with plain white yarn. Once completely covered, I wrapped fuzzy yarn every half inch or so around the wreath. Last, I crisscross wrapped a sparkly white yarn around the wreath. The effect is soft and the sparkle and texture are subtle.

The big impact comes from the red and white striped ribbon. I used this same ribbon for another project that I'll share later this month. It's my favorite at the moment :). It was a wired ribbon that I picked up on Black Friday for just a couple of dollars. I didn't need the wire, so I simply cut the ribbon to the length I wanted and then gently pulled the wires out. Pretty easy with a grosgrain ribbon like this.

The paper ribbons by Pretty Little Studio come from the Santa Claus line. That line, as well as all of Melissa's other holiday lines, are absolutely adorable! I'm making my December album with a mix of the collections and I can't wait to share.

You can find this project, as well as the photo that inspired it, at the Pretty Little Studio blog here.

Thanks for stopping by today and happy Friday! Tessa

Front Door Friday - Pink and Mustard Grapevine Wreath

Hello! Happy Friday! This week I have a mini wreath for you, and my first Front Door Friday grapevine wreath:

The wreath base is only about 5 inches. That makes this wreath a great option for a small window opening, a shelf, or wall decor.

The peachy-pink flowers are by Prima. I love the fairy-like feeling they give the wreath. The mustard wool rose is from my shop. I can't get enough of the mustard roses!

Because the grapevine is so tangled, I decided to leave the ends of my garland thread long so that they could tangle, too.

Thanks for visiting! I hope your weekend is a great one! Tessa

Front Door Friday - The Boy is Coming Home!

Hello! Today's Front Door Friday is a bit of a departure from my previous Front Door Friday posts. You see, today my oldest returns home from his first trip without family. He and the other 5th graders from his school went away to a science camp and I've been missing him terribly since we dropped him off Monday morning. He comes home this afternoon, but I won't be here to welcome him :(. I have to be at work. I tried to figure out a way to get out of it, but I just couldn't make it happen. So, since I can't welcome him home with open arms, I decided to welcome him home with decorations! When my hubby brings him home and pulls up in the driveway, this is what he will see:

"Welcome home Colten!" on the garage. Balloons.

More balloons. And a message from mom on the door.

It's a little bit silly, but I know he's gonna grin. Colten's love languages are words and time. He will read my words and he will notice how much time I spent putting up the decorations. When I get home I'll give him a huge hug that will probably be a little awkward (because he's 11 and physical touch is SO not his love language). And then I'll fill his bucket with more words (listening to everything that happened and asking questions) and more time (staying up as late as we want because of the holiday weekend).

So, today's Front Door Friday isn't a pretty wreath, but I hope you're inspired to celebrate one of your kiddos in a simple, special way. And don't worry, I have a gorgeous mini wreath ready to share with you next week! Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

Front Door Friday - Butterfly Wreath

Hello and happy Friday! Next week is supposed to be a string of 90-degree days, so my latest wreath is all about warm, summery colors:

When I first sat down to design this wreath, I chose my yarn colors: mustard, strawberry, burnt orange and raspberry. I thought it would be fun to kind of "ombre" the colors from dark to light. While my skeins of yarn and wreath base were sitting on the table, I unpacked some scrapbooking supplies I had just bought at JoAnn's. I set a package of chipboard butterflies near my wreath materials and it suddenly hit me - I want butterflies on this wreath! The chipboard ones I had just bought wouldn't work, so on my next trip to Michaels I picked up some feather butterflies that matched.

To make the wreath, I started by wrapping the yarn. When I was done wrapping the blocks of color, I took strands of the yarn and overlapped them onto the next color, trying to create a "fade" kind of effect. I like the way it looks and I'll keep playing to see if I can make it even more realistic.

The felt roses are all from my Etsy shop.

I've got several other butterfly wreaths pinned to my Wreaths Pinterest board. I don't think this is the last time I'll give butterflies a go. I'm already thinking of other color combinations, or even just an orange monarch butterfly wreath....

Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

Front Door Friday - Raspberry, Yellow and Mint

Where I live, 90 degree days just suddenly appeared. Like, out of nowhere. My front door was feeling a little too spring-y for the temps, so I warmed it up with this pretty wreath in raspberry pink, yellow and mint:

Wrapped in yarn, this wreath features a combination of silk and handmade flowers. The white flowers are made of bleached muslin. I've had some requests for these in my shop and am thinking about adding them to my virtual shelves. What do you think? The little raspberry pink felt roses and minty green leaves are already in the shop.

The yellow and minty green flowers are silk, bought on sale or clearance at the end of Spring last year. The sprigs of yellow were also bought on clearance last year. I've got a box of floral supplies like that that I love to visit when planning a wreath :). The last little touch was the translucent white beads for a touch of sparkle.

If you want to give this color combination a go, here's another Pinterest-inspired inspiration board:

one - two - three

Thanks for joining me for another Front Door Friday! Have a great day! Tessa

Front Door Friday - Mint, Kelly Green Pink and Gold

I've been inspired by my Color Palettes Pinterest board once again! I fell in love with this pin, which led me to the others you see in my inspiration board.

one - two - three - four - five

With these images in hand, I went to the craft store and shopped for yarn, flowers, and trim. The result:

I think it is perfect for Spring. It makes me think of the pink roses growing in my yard, the green grass, and the fresh scent in the air. I used four yarns - two fairly standard yarns (pink and mint), a soft, fluffy yarn (kelly green) and a gold yarn by Martha Stewart that reminds me of fettuccine noodles. I love it, and love it even more because I got it on clearance for a steal :).

The gold yarn was not quite enough "bling" for this wreath, so I added some gold trim.

The flower embellishments on this wreath are a mix of store-bought and handmade. The large pink flowers are by Jolee's, found at both Michaels and JoAnn. The felt roses are handmade.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you are enjoying my wreath series and will join me again next Friday. Have a good one! Tessa

Adlyn's Nursery Wreath - Front Door Friday

Welcome to installment #2 of Front Door Friday! Someone asked me, "Are you really going to share a new wreath every week?" My answer is yes, that's the plan for now! Last week's post was about the Spring wreath currently on my front door. Today's post is about the wreath I made for Adlyn's nursery's door:

I love how feminine lace instantly makes any project. The teal color is fun and bold and the scalloped edge is a beautiful pattern to repeat around the wreath.

Because the wreath is an indoor wreath, I was able to raid my stash of paper flowers as embellishments. All of these flowers are by Prima. I don't recommend using paper flowers on wreaths that will be outdoors. The sun will fade them quickly and moisture will damage them. Plus, bugs like to make them homes and it's hard to clean them out.

I only had one of these doilies but I wanted a bit to peek out at the top and bottom of the cluster of flowers. So, I cut it in half. This tip works great for paper doilies on scrapbook pages, too. ;) I thought about hanging this wreath by more of the lace, but this key print twill ribbon was perfect for a door. Key...door...get it?

I'm not sure I'll make an inspiration board every week, but last week's was popular so I gave it a go this time around, too:

one - two - three

Thanks for visiting! Next week I'll be sharing another Spring wreath, this time full of pastels perfect for Easter. Have a great day!

Front Door Friday - Fabric, Yarn and Felt Spring Wreath

Welcome to the first Front Door Friday! You may or may not know, but I have a thing for wreaths. I love to make wreaths for family, friends, and of course, my front door. I especially love yarn wreaths, but I've been venturing out into other materials, too. And just about every wreath I make features some handmade flowers (usually available in my Etsy shop, Precocious Paper). To kick off this blog series, I thought I would share a wreath for Spring:

I was inspired by several pins from my Color Palettes Pinterest board:

one - two - three

I used fabric to wrap the entire wreath; a floral print for two thirds of the wreath, and a gray damask print for the rest. Incidentally, both of these fabrics are available in my shop as Ruffle Blossoms :).

I wrapped two colors of yarn around that, then embellished with silk flowers (Prima), mother of pearl buttons and handmade felt flowers.

I struggle with finding the perfect ribbon to hang my wreaths from (I don't like to hook the wreath directly to the door). This time, though, I just happened to have this gorgeous striped ribbon on hand and it was a great match.

I hope you'll join me every Friday for a new wreath or door decor project. In the meantime, you can see which wreaths are inspiring me by visiting my Wreaths Pinterest board. I've had several customers in the past few weeks purchase flowers for wreaths that they were making. Do you make your own wreaths? I'd love to see! And I'd love for you to visit my shop. Let me know if there is anything I can make for you :).

Happy Friday! Tessa