2017 Christmas Cardinal Wreath Facebook Live 9/27/17

This is a re-cap of the Facebook Live that we did on 9/27/17 making this Christmas Cardinal Wreath. There will be things in the video that are not quite as pertinent "after the fact" but the video includes good basic information so we will post it. As mentioned in the video - we did take names for a drawing to give this wreath away and that's been done. Congratulations to Jeanette Allen Johnson on winning the wreath. We had put the products used for this wreath in a kit, and they sold out within 24 hours! But again, we'll post the video since basic instructions can be followed for a similar type wreath - just pick out different products to use. Some of the items we used will not be on the website and some will. Supplies: XX751526 24" Silver Ball Metallic Pencil Wreath (silver is sold out right now, but other colors are available) AP0124 Metal Cardinal Sign (sold out, but more are coming in) RY810062 10" Black White Snowdrift Poly Jute Mesh (also available in other colors) RG0154810 1.5" Grey Snowflake Ribbon (no longer available) RG01027MA 1.5" Buffalo Plaid Ribbon (no longer available) RJ6031 2.5" White Glitter Ribbon (no longer available) RG0125845 2.5" Cardinal Ribbon (no longer available) Summary: Wreath Form: We chose a pencil ball wreath for this just because the small balls on the twist add just a little extra bling. The 24" pencil wreath measures 15" across the widest ring, but with the addition of mesh, ribbons and other materials, you wind up with a wreath that measures 24" or greater. The most important thing to remember when working with a pencil ball wreath is not to twist the twist by the balls.....a good rule to follow period. Cardinal Sign: The cardinal sign has a metal hanger and we snipped this off with wire cutters and inserted floral wire into the holes and secured the sign to the center of the wreath. It did flop a bit since it wasn't secured at the bottom, but we thought once the ruffles were added, the ruffles would take care of that. We finished the rest of the tutorial with the sign in the middle, but in hindsight, secure your sign after the ruffles and ribbon strips are done. See, we learn things during live videos too! More about the sign later. Mesh: The mesh we chose was a new product that measures 10" in width. It's a new combination type product and made of Polypropylene and cotton. It's called a snowdrift style and has little cotton tufts in a line. The black and white make a nice contrast. The rolls are 10 yards in length and it doesn't take all of two rolls to make this project, but one roll is not enough. The mesh was cut into 15" lengths to do the ruffle technique. There are many different ways you can cut your mesh to make ruffles and Lori with Hard Working Mom had a video where she cut her mesh in 30" lengths to reduce raveling. This does help! A 30" ruffle does make for a bulky handful, especially with this snowdrift style mesh. So, we cut our ruffles into 15" length. Someone asked why didn't we just make them 20" in length so we wouldn't waste any mesh and you can do this for sure. You can also make three 10" ruffles and use a cluster of three ruffles in each twist. But, we settled on 15" ruffles and used a cluster of two ruffles in each twist. To make the ruffle, just let the mesh roll up naturally on the table, with the selvage edges to the outside, scrunch up through the middle of the mesh gathering and hold it pinched in your had like a bow. Make two ruffles. Typically, we would say when you place the second ruffle in your hand, angle it so the ruffles will cover more and won't be stacked right on top of each other. But for the wreath, since we had the sign in the center, we wanted to try to keep the ruffles from filling up the center too much so we turned them sideways a bit. In hindsight, the sign should be placed on the wreath, after the ruffles and ribbon strips. The ruffles just encroached over the sign too much. We started on the outer ring to place the ruffles and then moved to the center ring, continuing to place two ruffles in each twist. You wind up with a couple of yards of mesh left over. Ribbons: It's always good to do a test ribbon before you start cutting up your ribbons. We did this and settled on 12" for this project. You can add ribbons in many different ways - loops, strips, bows etc. Doing ribbon strips with the ruffle technique is one of the simplest methods especially for a beginner wreath maker since pieces are all cut the same and the wreath should come out fairly even. We had four different ribbons, two 1.5" widths and 2 2.5" widths. For this project, we wanted to use a cluster of each of the four styles of ribbon in each twist. We finished off the ends of the ribbon with a chevron or dovetail cut on the 2.5" and just an angled cut on the narrower ribbons. You can do this in any way that you prefer. Ribbon ends do look nicer finished off with some sort of cut. For bows with long tails, you can always roll up the ends a bit for nice look too. To make the ribbon cluster, just pick up a ribbon and alternate with another size. Pinch the ribbon in the center and spread the ribbons out in your hand. Open up a twist, making sure the two ruffles stay in place, and lay the ribbon cluster down on top of the ruffles. Close the twist with 3-4 turns. Remember not to turn these twists by the balls! Occasionally a ball will come off, or you might be missing one. If you have the ball, just hot glue it back on and if you're missing one, it won't be noticed. Place a cluster of four ribbons in each twist around the inner and outer ring. You have ribbon left over if you would like to make a bow, it's purely optional. At this point our wreath was finished for the tutorial. But the next day we did work on that sign more by taking it loose from the wreath frame. We didn't have an awl or metal punch to make a hole in the bottom of the sign. I did try with a nail and hammer but good grief, I couldn't put a hole in that sign. So I'm still looking for one of those metal punches to make a hole or I'll pick up the right kind of awl at the hardware store next week. But the sign needs to be brought out closer to the front of the wreath. We attached ours using floral wire in the holes where the hanger had been, but we still need a little something to hold it at the bottom too. I tried hot gluing some chenille stems and thought I had a perfect fix. Not! After a few hours, the glue just peeled right off! My husband said he could drill a hole in it for me.....but I'm not quite ready to give up! I've always thought I needed a little drill for myself, this may just be the right time to get one! Anyway, the wreath measures about 24-25" in width. Clip your strings instead of pulling them. All mesh ravels and you will have some strings no matter what method you use. Check the back for any sharp edges that might scratch your wall or door. Again, the kits that contained all the supplies for this wreath have sold out and no more will be available, but we'll leave the tutorial up since the basic instructions can be followed for a similar wreath, just pick out different mesh, ribbons, etc. We hope you'll join us on Facebook when we do our live videos. Sometimes we'll be giving way the wreath we made or a discount coupon....you just never know! Save Save Save Save Save Save