My friend, Rachel, came to Columbia recently to visit. We had been planning to have a craft day for a while. We both had projects we wanted and needed to work on, so we thought it’d be much more fun with each other’s company.
I saw this super cute ribbon wreath and tutorial on my friend, Molly’s, blog. (See the original tutorial here and Molly’s adorable wreath.)
I’m co-hosting a really fun baby shower for a special mama-to-be, so I had the perfect excuse to make this wreath. (Mama-to-be, if you’re reading, stop right now!)
Our color scheme is yellow, orange and gray, so I made my wreath in these colors. But you could do any color scheme. Molly did a fantastic Halloween wreath. I’ve already got plans for a cute ribbon wreath using Christmas colors and Valentine’s Day colors.
Materials needed:
14 inch foam wreath form (I accidentally grabbed one that was more squared off with hard angles rather than a round wreath like Molly and Rachel used)
12-15 spools of ribbon in your color choices (I just grabbed all the ribbon I could find in my colors because Hobby Lobby was having a 50% off sale)
Hot glue gun and lots of extra glue sticks
First, choose a color to use to use as the base color. Cover your entire wreath by wrapping the ribbon around the foam wreath form. I used hot glue on one end and then wrapped the whole wreath. I hot glued the other end when I had wrapped the whole wreath. I chose a very soft yellow (it looks white in the photos) as my base color.
Take the remaining spools of ribbon and cut them into 5-6 inch strips. I had a variety of ribbon- mostly grosgrain- but some had wire, some was satin, so the different materials were at varying lengths. (The wire ribbon really did the best, but the grosgrain looks the cutest.)
I didn’t get a picture of the ribbon that was cut in strips, but I kept each ribbon separated in piles. The whole ribbon-cutting step took a good forever. Rachel and I started around 2:00 and it was 4:00 before we finished this step.
Once you’ve cut up your ribbon, fold your ribbon in a loop and glue it together.
Make sure to glue it a little above the bottom. You need some space left over at the bottom as a flap so you can attach the loops to the wreath.
Then look at all of your ribbon strips that are now in loops. Blow the hot glue burns on your fingertips and get some pizza. (At least that’s what Rachel and I did.)
Alternate colors, patterns and types of ribbon and start gluing the loops onto the wreath. I put hot glue on the wreath and the attached the loop to the wreath at the “flap.” Make sure the loop/ribbon is standing up on the wreath. And alternate directions, too, to keep it looking interesting.
When I thought I was finished, I went back in and added some of the smaller ribbons to fill in some of the holes to make the wreath look fuller.
I am going to attach a hook onto the back and use a piece of ribbon to tie a “hanger” onto the hook so the wreath can be hung.
I think it turned out really cute! I worked on this wreath from 2:00 until 8:30 p.m., so it wasn’t a small project from start to finish. Fortunately, all of the ribbon was on sale so it didn’t cost much at all! I was so excited about that.
What kinds of crafts are you making this fall?
Carrie says
Super cute!!!
Jenny says
I love it!!
Michelle says
Very cute! I’ve made a variation of a similar wreath, but I make a loop with my ribbon and use pins instead of hot glue. I think I’m liking the hot glue idea!!
Laura says
Such a fun wreath! I may need to make a fall one for inside my house! How are you going to hang yours?
Evelien says
Wow this is really nice! Good job you two!
If I find ribbon on sale I’ll try it out!
So cute 🙂
Lauren Kelly says
super cute!!!!!!! 🙂
Makeupbytricia says
Beautiful wreath!
Thanks for this tutorial! I’ll be adding this to my projects.
Ashley says
Adorable!! I love Hobby Lobby and their perpetual 50% off sales 🙂
Amy says
REALLY cute! I love making these and ironically will be posting a tutorial on how to make ribbon topiaries tomorrow. I don’t use any glue on mine and go with pinning instead. Will have to try this way too. So jealous that you have a Hobby Lobby. 🙂 Hoping one comes to my area soon!
Jennifer says
That is adorable. I was all excited about making one until I got to the part about it taking so long. Your friend must be one special lady. She is going to love it.
CAwife says
Your wreath is so adorable! I definitely need to make one of these! I really need a spring-time/Easter wreath, and I think this would be perfect or it!
Mandy says
This looks amazing! I’m working on some yarn wreaths right now to give to family for Christmas!
Melissa says
That is SO cute! I wish I had the patience to make something like that!
Elizabeth says
I love these wreaths! I”ve made one for Christmas before but used pins instead of hotglue. Has anyone tried it both ways? Which one is faster?
Misty L says
That is such a cute wreath! I can see that it be a good project to spread out over a couple days. Just curious, how many hot glue sticks do you think you went through?
Funnelcloud Rachel says
So cute. I’ve done something similar with foam cones to make Christmas trees. Save your fingers – instead of hot gluing, use straight pins stuck directly into the foam.
Laura says
That looks adorable!!! I’ve got so many crafts planned for this fall – it’s all Pinterest’s fault! We’re going to do some pumpkin painting and I want to do some handprint/footprint stuff for Christmas with the little munchkin. There’s a lot more STUFF to do for the holidays now that we have a little one!
Leslie Hale says
Love the wreath. I know that took a lot of time. I made a yarn wreath this year and it took forever!
Nina says
I love how it turned out! It’s going to be SO cute for the shower!!
Lauren says
So cute!! I have a feeling you make this seem much easier than I would ever find it!
Sarah says
I love the ribbon wreath. I made one last year for a girl baby shower and it turned out super cute. I followed this tutorial. http://www.flythroughourwindow.com/2008/09/2-crafts-2-little-girls-for-daddyboy/
It did not take as much time and seems like it was a bit easier because you don’t have to burn yourself with hot glue 🙂
Melissa Jones says
That turned out so cute and I love the colors!
Jennifer says
Could you staple each loop rather than hot glue? Then, glue it on?
Rachel says
Love your final product, and I loved being your craft buddy! I can’t wait to go home and make my finishing touches tonight!
Megan (Best of Fates) says
That is gorgeous! I always see fabulous wreath tutorials on Pinterest but I’ve sadly been too lazy so far to make any!
In this wonderful life says
it looks AWESOME!!!! Such a great job! I want to make one now!!
Kelli says
AMAZING and very cute for a shower! I have been wanting to make a fall ribbon wreath for a while now. I just can’t decide on fall colors or college football colors.
Melissa says
I’m totally going to try this for Christmas! Thanks Erin!
The Southern Peacock says
I am a wreath fanatic! I adore this idea. So super cute!
Kelsey @aslolife says
super cute–I love fall crafts!
Carroll says
Absolutely adorable!! Thanks so much for posting this fun craft how-to!! 🙂
liz says
I just saw this printable link for a grey and yellow baby shower that you might like! http://www.bumpsmitten.com/2011/03/diy-shower-yellow-gray-elephants_31.html
Lauren says
Love the wreath! I definitely plan on making some for our door 🙂
Lexi says
I’ve been really loving wreaths, due to the huge number I’ve seen on pinterest, and this one is so much fun! I think I need to try it. I saw one that was made of burlap, so I bought the supplies for that a few weeks ago, but haven’t gotten around to making it yet. Maybe I should work on it tonight, while watching Survivor???
Tara says
How cute! And what great present ideas for the upcoming holidays. I’m sure you’d get quicker with each one, or not…and use it to kill time during some tv shows/commercials. Thanks for adding the pictures to the instructions. I’m a visual learner!
Lyndsey says
LOVING this! And I want to make one now…now to find 6 hours to do so 🙂 haha! PERFECT for fall!
Caity says
I bought ribbon today to make this for a baby shower. Can’t wait to see how it turns out!
Jill says
Cannot wait to make this a CHRISTMAS WREATH when my daughter gets to South Africa from the USA in three weeks time!