Candy Stripe Ruffle Wreath

Happy Sunday everyone!

To all my American friends...I hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving and have recovered from turkey overload!

This week I finally finished a project that has been swirling around in my head for some time.

The candy stripe ruffle wreath.

I really thought I was ahead of the game this year with my Christmas projects, but somehow time races away and my "to do" list is still rather long, with not so much time left to scratch things off!

This is the first time we've owned a home that is not more or less "open concept"...so I've been having loads of fun coming up with a few different Christmas decorating themes for different rooms.

I decided to go with a red & white theme in the kitchen, with a bit of a peppermint candy theme.

So here enters the candy stripe wreath!

Want to make your own?

Here's how!

First off, wreath forms are VERY hard to find in my little town for some silly reason.

I don't think anyone sells pool noodles here when it's below freezing either, so I had to resort to another method. Did I mention the nearest craft store is a 45 minute drive from here?

(And no, I don't live in a mountain cave, but it certainly is starting to sound like it!)

I read a tutorial by Classy Clutter on I Heart Nap Time where they used pipe insulation to create a candy cane form, so I figured it would work just as well for a wreath form.

And hey...I can get to a hardware store in a couple minutes! 

Even better - the insulation only cost me 59 cents. 

Me likey.

Just tape the two ends together with packing or duct tape and you have your form.

How easy is that?

If you need a form that has more structure (for heavier embellishments), you could fish a coat hanger through it too.

**Edited: Wow!! Apparently I have my head buried deep in the sand! Can you believe I had never seen a wreath form like this used in blogland before - with exception to the candy cane form? D-uh. Obviously I don't get "out" enough. I did, however, come across these handy little tips on dealing with foam insulation if it's giving you trouble. Mine never did, but if yours is...go over to this post by The Penny Parlour to get some great troubleshooting pointers.**

Next, I wrapped white satin ribbon around the form.

Because the insulation tends to melt under hot glue, you need to start gluing on the tape.

Then continue wrapping and fastening, by putting the glue on the ribbon - not on the form - as shown in this picture.

Next, I used painters tape to figure out where I wanted my red stripes.

(three cheers for the eagle eye who spots where I ran out of ribbon and used a crepe streamer!)

The painters tape is great because you can take it off and move it around until you figure out exactly where you want your stripes.

Mark little lines along the edges of the tape so you will have a guideline, then remove the tape.

I used a 2.5 inch biscuit cutter as a template for tracing out about a million little circles on red and white felt.

Okay, I exaggerate. Only half a million, give or take a couple thousand. 

Make sure you cut out the circles inside the pen marks! 

Otherwise it won't look pretty and we definitely want pretty. 

Take your circle, fold it in half, in half again and then snip off the point.

Glue down your little ruffle. Repeat many, many, many times.

Put your red ruffles inside the guidelines you drew earlier, and then fill in the rest with white.

I have seen ruffle or rosette wreaths before, but I have not read any tutorials on them, so if there is a "proper" way to do it, I'm not aware of it. I just glued my ruffles down however I thought they would look best...upside down, not upside down, sideways...you get the idea.

The ruffle/rosette police has not come to my house yet, and I kinda doubt they will come to yours!

There you have it.

Be prepared to burn your fingers silly during the process, by the way.

But I think you'll be happy in the end!

I'm looking forward to showing you the rest of my kitchen soon, but that's another post for another day and another party!

Until then, I'm trying very hard not to eat all the sour cherry candies in that jar!

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Keeping the Christmas Spirit Alive, 365

To see the other great parties I'm linking up to this week, click HERE!!