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Gingerbread Christmas Wreath Tutorial

Gingerbread Christmas Wreath Tutorial

gingerbread-wreath-skinny-gingerbread-picks-sprays Gingerbread Christmas Wreath
Supplies Used for Basic Wreath - Other decorations will be listed separately throughout the blog post. XX748839 24" Cream Work Wreath RE100083 21" Cream White Two Tone Deco Poly Mesh® RF24157X 9.5" Red Natural Faux Burlap RA132024 4" Red Loose Weave Burlap Ribbon RA1367 1.5" Natural Loose Weave Burlap Ribbon RG121124 1.5" Red Cross Royal Burlap Ribbon rd105352 Chocolate Cotton Candy Roping Assorted Plastic Ball Ornaments (purchased from WalMart)
gingerbread-wreath-plain-2 Basic wreath before embellishment
Prepare Work Wreath The first thing we did was take a 24" Cream Work Wreath. We chose the regular Work Wreath style because the twists are larger than the Pencil Work Wreaths and we needed the larger twists for this project.
work-wreath-cream XX748839 Cream Work Wreath 24"
We purchased a bucket of plastic ornaments from WalMart that were just perfect for our gingerbread color scheme. They are assorted sizes with most between 1.5 and 2" and different styles and colors. We took a pair of needle-nose pliers and removed the ornament cap. Using hot glue, very carefully, put hot glue on the ornament hole and pushed the ornament over the tip of the twist tie. Let the ornaments cool completely before starting. Also it's important not to use the balls to twist the ties with because this may pull them off. We had a bucket of about 24 balls so each twist didn't have two balls, some just had one. gingerbread-wreath-work-wreath Apply Deco Poly Mesh Using Pouf Technique
re100083-cream-white-two-tone RE100083 Cream White Two Tone 21" Deco Poly Mesh
We chose the cream and white Two Tone Deco Poly Mesh® for this project. This mesh has no foil and doesn't give the best of coverage when using alone but we are adding layers of product to this project. We went around the mesh using the basic pouf technique, grasping the mesh at 14" intervals. If you need to review the pouf technique, check our Tutorial Listings, we have a couple of wreath tutorials just on this. Once the Work Wreath was covered in the Cream White Two Tone Mesh, we started our next layer - a red and natural check Faux Burlap.
rf24157x-faux-burlap-red-natural RF24157 Red Natural Faux Burlap
We started with just a partial roll of the Faux Burlap so we just went around the inner loops creating poufs the same as we did with the Two Tone Cream Deco Poly Mesh. Just open a twist and secure the end of the Faux Burlap. You can measure 14" or just lay the material on top of your cream pouf and make sure it is about the same size - not too tight or too loose. Open the next twist, secure the Faux Burlap and continue working around the inner ring. A full roll would be enough to go around the inner ring and outer ring but we didn't do that since we only had a piece of the roll. We took the remnants that we had and created 10" ruffles and added them to the outer ring of twists just to pull it all together. In the end, it's not even noticeable that we didn't have Faux Burlap poufs on the outer ring too. Add Ribbon Strips Next we added ribbons strips of about 14". We started out with 4" Red Burlap Ribbon and 1.5" Natural Burlap Ribbon. We also added some 1.5" Cross Royal Burlap ribbon (which is actually Polyester, not burlap).
RA132024-loose-weave-burlap-red-4-inch RA132024 Loose Weave Red Burlap 4" Ribbon
Sorry, but the audio dropped during the video - so the next few steps are omitted in the video but all it did was to show how we added the ribbon strips. Two or more strips of ribbon were layered, pinched in the center and secured in a twist. It's important to open the twist, secure the ribbon down on top of your last layer and re-secure the twist. We generally always used wired edge ribbons because they stand up better and you can shape them.
RA1367-burlap-loose-weave-ribbon RA1367 Loose Weave Natural Burlap Ribbon
This loose weave burlap ribbon in the natural color is available in 1.5" 1.5" and 4" It's very inexpensive and makes a great addition to your projects. You just can't ever have too much ribbon!
RG121124-cross-royal-burlap-red-1.5-inch RG121124 Cross Royal Burlap Red Ribbon
The Cross Royal Burlap ribbons are made of Polyester, but have a very nice weave and texture. We thought that after we had used these three ribbons, we wanted to add a little more chocolate color. We have several great chocolate ribbons to choose from, but we settled on this Chocolate Copper Glitter ribbon in 2.5" width. It has a great texture and stiffness to it making it stand up well on the wreath.
x00455-40010-0018-chocolate-copper-glitter X00455-40010-0018 Chocolate Copper Glitter Ribbon 2.5"
After we added the Chocolate Copper ribbon, we added some Chocolate Cotton Candy Roping. But, back to the ribbon strips - be sure to finish off the ends of your ribbon with a chevron or angled finish and lay your ribbon in the twist with the right side facing out. Re-fluff your ribbon strips after they have all been attached.
rd105352-chocolate-brown-cotton-candy RD105352 Chocolate Cotton Candy Roping
Cotton Candy Roping is a fun, messy product to use))) It is wired, lumpy and knotty and it gives a neat different texture to your project. Just attach one of the roping and let it sort of meander around the wreath, attaching it in a twist here and there.....not every twist. Since it's wired you can adjust the shape after it's on the wreath also. We used the entire roll of 25 feet, but you probably wouldn't have to. I'm sure you've heard us say before....we re-use the products that we show in our tutorials for other projects, so we didn't cut the Cotton Candy Roping for our project. This finishes the basic wreath.....now on to the embellishments! We'll show you some additional images with different ways of embellishing your wreath. Any of the picks can be easily attached, just secure them to the Work Wreath Frame. Most anything is always best secured to the Work Wreath frame unless it is something really light and can be attached to the mesh or twist. For the gingerbread figures, they can be secure using a zip tie tucked under a shirt or something like that and secured to the frame. You can even use clear fishing line on light weight products.
gingerbread-wreath=-skinny-gingerbread-closeup 3316404 RAZ Skinny Leg Gingerbread Boy & Girl
This cute RAZ Gingerbread Boy and Girl have skinny legs and arm. They are decorated in red, white and pink and have trimmings of rick rack, polka dots and gingham checks. They measure about 18" in ht and are from the 2014 Candy Sprinkles Collection. Here's another image featuring the RAZ Skinny Leg Gingerbread along with some additional items placed on the wreath. gingerbread-wreath-skinny-gingerbread-picks-sprays gingerbread-wreath-small-gingerbread-picks This image shows some other Gingerbread items from RAZ....we have a lot of Gingerbread to choose from. But it also shows a new Button Berry Pick that just came in. This is a cute little pick that has red and white buttons and round berries.
DC-7912-button-berry-spray-red-white DC-7912 Button Berry Pick
We also have a new Peppermint Candy pick that is just the right size for wreath making. Here's a photo of it.
DC-6599-peppermint-candy-berry-spray-set-2 DC-6599 Peppermint Candy Berry Spray
The Peppermint Candy Berry spray is sold in sets of two sprays, one is a red/white color combination and the other has a bit of green in it. These sprays measure about 11" in ht. (SORRY, THESE PICKS ARE ALREADY SOLD OUT)
gingerbread-wreath-single-large-gingerbread X7440 Glitz Plush Gingerbread Shelf Sitter
This little Glitz Gingerbread Shelf Sitter girl is holding a sack of flour. She has a bit of sparkle for her hat and dress. There is also a matching boy and they measure about 20" in ht.
gingerbread-wreath-moose-cookie 3316108 RAZ Iced Moose Cookie
We have lots of cookie style Christmas ornaments from RAZ. This is a one that looks like an iced cookie and the chocolate part.....looks just like chocolate. The moose is also decorated with candy sprinkles.
gingerbread-wreath-ice-cream-cone 3302814 RAZ Ice Cream Cone Christmas Ornament
This RAZ Ice Cream Cone Christmas Ornament comes in a set of three and looks great on this wreath. The Ice Cream Cone ornament comes in assorted colors and is also decorated with candy sprinkles.
gingerbread-wreath-claydough-reindeer 3316110 RAZ Claydough Reindeer Christmas Ornament
This whimsical RAZ Reindeer Ornament is made of claydough and you can't really see it here, but has springy feet. Ornaments are assorted and come in sets of three.
gingerbread-wreath-boy-girl-peppermint X7441 Plush Gingerbread Pair
This shows another style of plush Gingerbread Shelf Sitters that have dangly button legs, shimmery bodies and hats. They are sold in sets of two and measure about 14" in ht. In Summary: The wreath measured about 29-30" in width and we loved how it turned out! There are so many options to decorating a wreath like this and attaching the plastic ball ornaments to the Work Wreath made adding in a little more bling and glitz so much easier. We twisted the twists very carefully when attaching the mesh and other products and am happy to say.....we didn't lose even one ball! This wreath would look nice with all peppermint trim too....and we have a perfect beaded garland that would have matched well.
xg6084-bead-garland-red-green-gold XG6084 Bead Garland
If you wanted something other than the Chocolate Cotton Candy roping, this Bead Garland would be a perfect substitution with it's gold, red and green flocked beads. Some clusters of real cinnamon sticks tied with ribbon and tucked in the wreath would look nice too and smell good. Hope you enjoyed the tutorials and have fun making your own! video-blue
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