Initial Wreath

Hi there!  I hope everyone is having a great week!  I have been working on this wreath FOREVER and finally got it finished today.  For some reason, I wasn't particualrly motivated to work on this project.  It has been laying on the basement floor for weeks so I decided I had better get it done!

{Sorry the colours are so washed out!}

I have loved all of the moss initial wreaths that I have been seeing around the blogosphere and knew I had to have one! I really wanted a nice symmetrical letter like an 'S' or a 'T' but, alas, I am an 'L'.  I did ask if my husband would consider changing our last name but no luck!

If you are making a moss initial I would highly recommend spending the extra money and getting the sheet moss.  If you use a coupon, there is not a huge difference in price.  It was still messy but so much easier than gluing a whole bunch of random moss pieces on!  My letter was a large, cardboard {papermache?} one that I purchased at Jo-Anne's.  I think it was about $3 or $4.   I just cut the moss out like fabric and wrapped up the letter almost like I was wrapping a present.  Add some hot glue and you are done!  It literally took me about 10 minutes.  

To add a little more interest to my boring ol' L, I added some berry twig branches that were left over from my Spring tree and Butterfly projects.    

I attached the letter with hot glue to the grapevine wreath.  The 'L' looked very unbalanced on the wreath by itself so I spent another few days pondering over what I was going to add.  Since I LOVE fabric {even though I cannot sew a stitch!}, I decided to add some fabric flowers.  

The burlap flower is just the basic rosette rolled flower with a little brad in the middle.  There is an awesome video tutorial on how to make these little guys over at Freckled Laundry.

Here's how to make the pink one:

• Cut a bunch of circles out of your fabric. I think I used about 12.  I actually would have liked to have added a few more but ran out of fabric.  The circles don't have to be perfect.  You should be able to cut 5 or 6 at a time. 
• Take one of your circles and fold it in half.

• Take one corner and fold it forwards towards the middle.  Hot glue in place.

• Take the other corner and fold it backwards towards the center.  Hot glue in place.

• Cut out a circle from felt to use as your base and start hot gluing your cones to the center.  Since I was short on fabric I staggered them a bit. Keep going until all of the gaps are filled in and your flower is as full as you would like.

• Add a small rolled flower to the center {like the burlap one}.

For the blue flower, I cut out a circular piece of felt for the base and a fabric strip that was approximatley 3 inches by 20 inches.  I folded the strip in half {width wise} and simply did an accordian fold all the way around.  Every 5 or 6 folds I adhered it to the center with hot glue.  For the center, I cut out a couple of circles from yellow fabric and added a button. 

Finally I have a wreath for the front door again!

Now I just have to do the rest of the front entrance!  It definitely needs a good clean and some flowers to spruce things up.  But for now, at least I have my wreath!

Have a good week! 

I have linked up with Southern Hospitality, 504 Main, Tidy Mom, The CSI Project, Elements Interiors, Night Owl Crafting, The Lettered Cottage, Sew Chatty, Tip Junkie, Today's Creative Blog, Craft-O-Maniac, CRAFT, The DIY Showoff, Under the Table and Dreaming, I Heart Naptime, Be Different Act Normal, Tatertots and Jello, Thirty Days, Fingerprints on the Fridge, The Shabby Nest, Chic on a Shoestring, Delightful Order, Paisley Passions, Katie's Nesting Spot, House of Hepworths, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Christina's Adventures, Blue Cricket Design, Passionately Artistic.